Pok'emon Journey! A Journey of Three Season 2
by Embara626
Summary: Raian, Josue, and Iian continue their long journey across the Hoenn Region. Join them in their adventures as they try to brave the region not as a group, but by challenging the region as solo trainers.
1. Chapter 1

"My second book, ah, at it again. I honestly don't remotely know where to start...I guess that's

how it is for everyone on their second journey. Beginning your second journey is always difficult,

there's always so many questions, so many concerns. You just never know what to think.

Granted, it's easier than your first journey, soley because you're no longer the rookie you once

were, now you've been around the block and have an idea of what to expect. But at the same

time, it's also very difficult, just having to start from scrtch. Ha, back when I started my second

jouney, I had no clue that I couldn't use my old pokemon. So like an idiot, I went into that first gym

with a belt of League level pokemon, expecting to sweep everyone off their feet! Boy was I

suprised when they told me I couldn't use them!"

**Lavaridge Town Gym Hoenn Region **

"What the bloody hell do you mean I can't use Blaziken?!" Iian yelled out quite irrate. Iian, now

eighteen years old, looked somewhat different than he normall did. He had blue jeans on which

looked quite plain, yet he wore a short black sleeved short with a red pattern across it. His 'dirty

blonde' hair was a bit longer than it had been, and it went well with his green eyes and clean

shaven face.

"I mean, that's an official League registered pokemon" The leader Flannery replied. She

looked as she always did, vibrant red hair running from her head, a tight short black shirt, and

shaggy pants. "You can't use that here"

"Why the hell not?!" Iian asked confused and angry

"Because that's the law...How did you get to this gym and not know that?" Flannery asked

crossing her arms

"Well I already had the other badges from when I was a kid, so I just got on my way

here...and..." Iian stumbled over his words

"Alright...fair enough...but you still can't use that" Flannery said looking at the boy "Don't you

have anything else?"

"uhh...I have a wurmple and a tailow..." Iian said pulling forth two pokeballs

"Well..that'll have to do" Flannery said in a bit of disbelief as she pulled forth a pokeball

"...f^ck" Iian said simply

**A Few Humiliating Minutes Later **

"...Bloody f^cking daft weak ss sh!t" Iian grumbled as he walked out of the gym "Did you

know about this sh!t?!"

The random citizen he yelled at had no clue what he was talking about and calmly waved as

they backed away. Iian was extremely angry that his mighty League team was now unusable in

his home region. The once mighty trainer was no handicapped in his own land, a mighty soldier

wounded.

"Great, just freaking great" Iian grumbled as he walked towards the entrance of a pokecenter,

as he did the doors didn't open and he walked face first into the glass door "..fantastic"

Iian kicked the door before he swung it wide open, barely avoiding striking his own face. He

walked in proudly, a few trainers looking at him as though he were a cuckold. He gave each a

look that could kill as he walked forth to a PC which stood next to the counter.

"You okay?" The nurse asked looking at Iian as she handed a trainer a tray of five pokeballs

"Better than you look" Iian grumbled as he logged onto the PC "My glorious team, all

useless...now all I have is this useless cute worm and this bird most people keep as a pet...and I

need to defeat Flannery, just great!"

Several onlookers watched IIan as he complained, inputting his pokeballs into the machine,

watching them disappear into the system, being transported to his home. Iian continued on with

his complaining as he put in a fourth and final pokeball, the one which held his Blaziken.

"Sorry buddy, I can't afford to keep you with me, you're going to stay with mum and pop for a

little bit" Iian said sadly as the pokeball disappeared into the system "Fan tucking fastic, two

bloody pokemon and I need to defeat this regions fourth damn leader, just fan tucking fastic"

Even more onlookers turned to Iian as he carried on. The boy didn't give a single care, rather

he just continued on with his rant whilst he continued inputting his pokemon. All that remained

was two pokeballs around his belt, two solitary pokeballs. Two normal red and white pokeballs

with weak level pokemon was all the League level trainer had to show for his talents.

"This is some bloody f^cking bullsh!t, I don't know why I'm not allowed to keep my pokemon..."

Iian carried on as he began on his way out the building, a small group of trainers and nurses all

watching as he walked onwards "My pokemon are perfectly posh! I should be allowed to keep

my damned pokemon with me! Who the hell does she think she is?! Didn't she see me at the

Unova league?!"

Iian didn't stop for a breath as he made his way down the street. His loud spew catching the

attention of everyone who walked by him. Innocent bystanders just minding their business when

the loud mouthed boy would come in to pop their bubble of tranquility with his needle of

aggrivation.

"...I mean I understand everyone was really uneasy after the mess that happened in Unova

not too long back, but a league is a league! Why would my own homeland treat me like this?!"

Iian ranted as he found his way down the street "Of everyone, me? Me?!"

By this time Iian had found himself in a small patch of tall grass, the sound of something

rustling around inside of it was clear. Iian pulled forth a pokball from his backback and lifted it into

the air.

"Come on you wanker, I want to beat Flannery already!" Iian yelled out as his eyes followed

the rustling grass "Don't make this more difficult than it has to be!"

As he finished yelling, he noticed a very small creature begin to make its way out of the

grass. There it stood, a small humanoid creature. It looked as though it had been beaten, it had

small cuts and bruises all across its small body. Iian couldn't help but lose his frustration and

change to sympathy as he watched the small creature crawl forth a few inches before falling

onto the ground.

"...Umm...Want to beat Flannery?" Iian asked unsure of what to say as the small creature

rose back to its feet. As it did so, it tilted its small helmet like head up revealing two large watery

eyes just underneath the head plating. Iian stared into the twitching eyes for a moment before his

eyes too began to twitch and grow large.

"Ral ts" The little creature replied holding both of its arms up as though it wanted Iian to pick it

up

"...son of a..." Iian began as he reached down and grabbed ahold of the creature "No offense

little bud, but I need to beat Flannery, I need really strong really...uhh..."

As he spoke, the little Ralts looked up at him, its enormous watery eyes twitching with its

smile. Iian sucked in his lip as he tried to force some words out, but he couldn't manage to say

anything. He held the little pokemon in his arms.

"...well f^ck" Iian said with a sigh as he felt his phone buzzing "I wanted something strong, not

this..."

As he said this he reached into his pocket and pulled forth his ringing phone, all he could see

was the name "Anna". He simply rolled his eyes as he shut his phone off and looked back at his

new partner.

"Well, a pokemon is a pokemon, i'm sure I can make you kick arse somehow" Iian said

looking at the pokemon "Now let's see if we can find anything else..."

Iian made large circles in the grass, still holding the small pokemon known as Ralts in his

hand. He half expected some wild pokemon to turn up at every movement, but he was not so

lucky. Despite not having much luck, he was very resilient and motivated. He spent the next four

hours scavaging the land, looking for any pokemon he could find. All he had was a backpack full

of pokeballs, a wurmple, a tailow, and now a ralts.

"Ya hah! I got you now you stupid mutt!" Iian yelled out as he threw a pokeball full force at a

small pup like pokemon known as Poocheyana, standing opposite it was his white cacoon like

pokemon that had once been a wurmple, now evolved from all the fighting.

"You aren't getting away again wanker!" Iian called out as his large bird, now a mighty

Swellow, swooped down fast striking the fleeing pokemon known as zigzagoon.

"Now that you know something besides teleport, use it!" Iian commanded his small friend who

stood beside another small pokemon, this one being a brown seed like creature known as

Seedot. Ralts boldly puffed up its chest before throwing its whole body forward in a tackle.

"Hehe..just a little more training and we got this..." Iian said to himself smugly as he rubbed

his hands together, quite confident in his abilities. The boy was rather bold, despite the fact that

he had been training in a small patch of grass for the past week, his pokemon all still much

weaker than his previous group.

**Lavaridge Gym **

"...Umm...are you still sure?" Flannery asked overlooking her opponents Seedot which

struggled to its feet

"Damn it all to hell!" Iian yelled out

**Just outside of Town **

"Alright guys, so we lost...again" Iian said overlooking his new team of pokemon which stood

around in a semi circle "...f^cking bloody hobnocker is a bloody f^cking b!tch"

"Swe" Iians Swellow squaked looking at his master who was twisting his glove into a knot

"Alright, so...game plan..." Iian said wiping his face in frustration "We aren't really ready

yet...so let's train for another week or two, that's really all we can afford. If we take any longer,

our head start won't mean much...so we train, we go back, and we win, good? Good."

**Two Weeks Later **

"So you're back again?" Flannery asked watching Iian set his feet in the trainers box of the

rock floored battlefield

"Fourth time's the charm" Iian replied, his face quite serious as he ran his hand across his full

belt of pokeballs

"Yeah you said third time's the charm five days ago" Flannery replied sarcastically as she set

down her bottle of water next to a half eaten sandwhich on a small table

"Well that was the past, this is now" Iian retorted quickly

"Huh, pretty much what I said to you when you asked why you aren't allowed to use your

league pokemon" Flannery said raising a brow arrogantly "Seriously man, you aren't the first its

happened to. Sometimes you get so used to one group of pokemon that you forget how to really

train, i've seen some league level trainers completely fail at new regions. Honestly a solid ten

percent of trainers end up quitting for that reason alone. It's similar to Surge Syndrome, you're so

used to the strong pokemon of your old group that you never are able to catch new ones and

train them properly"

"Well i'm about to show you that I did just that" Iian snapped back quickly

"I'd be amazed if you did" Flannery replied as she pulled a pokeball from her pocket "But i've

seen your kind before, you just won't make it, keep coming back to my gym all you want, your

career is over, sorry. I understand it's difficult to acce..."

"Just shut up and send out the stupid slug" Iian interupted quickly. Flannery let out a smirk as

she clicked her pokeball, the red and white sphere expanding in her hand.

"Alright, I don't think I need to explain how this works" A blue haired man wearing a suit called

out as he stepped into the referee box

"Cress? Aren't you supposed to be in Unova?" Iian asked confused as he looked at the man

"Meh, me and my brothers decided to go on an adventure of our own" Cress replied with a

shrug "And I felt like coming to Hoenn first"

"Weird..." Iian replied nodding his head in understanding

"Cress! Stop talking and get to reff ing!" Flannery snapped stomping her foot on the ground

"Yeah yeah" Cress replied making a whipping motion with his arm "Alright, this battle is a

three on three match for the Heat Badge, first one to knock out all three of their opponents

pokemon wins, Challenger Iian you may send out your first pokemon"

"Alright, time to show you what we got, come on out Kirlia!" Iian yelled out quickly snatching a

pokeball from his belt and tossing it onto the floor. From the pokeballs glow formed a new

creature to his party. It was a white bipedal Pokémon that appeared to be wearing a small dress.

It had green hair like extensions that reached down to its shoulders, along with two red horns.

"Really?" Flannery asked looking at the pokemon cross its arms as though unimpressed with

the woman "It took you three weeks to get that?"

"Better than a slug" Iian retorted

"Yet it will still lose to a slug" Flannery replied without missing a beat. She chuckled to herself

as she tossed forth her pokeball, quickly forming into the marvelous Slugma. Slugma was a

limbless Pokémon composed of a red membrane much like magma. Its body was bright red,

fading to a duller red along its extremities. It had large, round, yellow eyes with small pupils. The

Slugma's head was ovoid with flame like extensions spreading upward from its eyes and round,

stable jowels dangling from its upper jaw.

"We...Won't...Lose" Iian said confdently as Kirlia's eyes began to glow an illuminating purple.

"Bring it! Slugma use sunny day!" Flannery yelled out quikly

"Teleport!" Iian responded quickly

Slugma threw its head high into the air, closing its eyes, Iian watched as a small glimmering

star like ball of energy formed on its forehead. Kirlia quickly threw its arm up and in an instant

had disapeared. As the piece of energy rose into the sky from Slugma, Kirlia manifested behind

the slug and immideatly turned its eyes purple with energy again. This time however, Slugma

began glowing for a moment before it was thrown back several feet, tumbling along the ground.

"Good! Now Confusion again!" Iian yelled out, his eyes practically on fire with devotion to win

the battle.

"Light Screen quickly!" Flannery yelled back, Cress turning his half interested gaze to Slugma

as it lifted its head up.

As Kirlia's eyes began to glow, a glimmering box of light suddenly appeared before Slugma.

Iian watched, grinding his teeth slightly, as Kirlia tried to attack the Slug with its psychic power,

yet it not working. Kirlia seemed to growl with frustration, biting its lower lip as the Slugma stared

vacantly through its wall of light energy.

"Smog!" Flannery comanded, not wasting a moment

"Kirlia Magical leaf before it can do it!" Iian quickly called out.

Kirlia collected its arms on its chest for a moment before throwing them out to either side,

spread far. From the barren rock ground, several glowing green chunks began to rise, swirling

around the masses of green was rainbow like illumination. Kirlia threw forth its arms, yet as it did

Slugma opened forth its mouth and spewed forth a horrendous cloud of black gasses.

"Come on Kirlia" Iian growled as the cloud encompassed the Slugma, hiding it.

Kirlia slowly backed its feet up as the cloud spread, coming closer and closer. As the

pokemon reached the edge of the field, its foot nearly on the white painted line, the cloud

suddenly stopped growing began disspating. The cloud shrunk down, turning to a light mist

around Kirlias ankles. Iian looked onwards to see Slugma rising from the ground, the 'leaves'

having been a direct hit.

"Good job! Now Teleport and Confusion again!" Iian commanded. Kirlia nodded its head,

throwing up its arm again and dissapearing.

"Now Smog again!" Flannery said smugly

Her Slugma obeyed quickly, almost immedietly spewing forth another cloud. A look of panic

overtook Iians face as Kirlia suddenly appeared behind the slugma, directly in the quickly forming

cloud of Smog. Kirlia panicked, but decided to continue its attack. The Slug suddenly shot forth in

a covering of purple light, making a tunnel in the smog, Kirlia quickly leaping back out of the fog.

"Kirlia are you okay?!" Iian asked as Kirlia landed hard on the floor on its side

"Kirl..." Kirlia replied with a cringe before letting out a cough

"Heh...poisoned" Flannery said crossing her arms overlooking her Slugma return to its upright

posistion

"No, no, you're fine right?!" Iian asked his rising pokemon

"Kirl!" The kirlia replied throwing its arm back as though to make Iian back off, as it did so its

chest heaved several times with coughs.

"Not fine, it's poisoned" Flannery said with a grin "Like I said, no matter how many times you

try, you won't beat me"

"I will! Don't think just because Kirlia is poisoned that we're done for!" Iian retorted angrily, his

Kirlia tilting its head in agreement. Both Iian and his pokemons eyes seemed to match in

determination and rage, both ready to win no matter the cost.

"Yeah right, it's as good as over, i've seen every trick your kirlia has, and I remember all of

your other pokemons tricks from the last times" Flannery replied with a large shrug of her arms

and shoulders "Just accept it, Slugma, Overheat!"

"Kirlia you have to dodge it somehow!" Iian yelled out as Slugma began to glow a sickly red

Kirlia looked at its opponent for a moment before the slug unleashed the great attack. All

across Slugmas body, flames shot out in a four foot radius, yet from the beasts mouth came the

true force. In a great burst of flame, entangled with another swilring set of flames around it,

Slugma shot forth the beam of ultimate firepower towards Kirlia. Kirlia looked all across the field,

yet could see nothing to hide behind. The psychic type quickly teleported into the air, but it was of

no help as Slugma slowly turned its head and the beam towards the pokemon. Kirlia locked its

teeth and pulled its arms up to block the attack, in an instant the beam striking the poor

pokemon.

"No!" Iian yelled out as his pokemon fell from the air and struck the ground hard.

"Hehe, told you" Flannery said smugly as she watched Kirlia twitch on the ground.

"Khe khe" Kirlia's body suddenly sounded off, its back rising and lowering as the creature let

off a strange and haunting laugh.

"Huh?" Iiana and Flannery questioned in unison as Kirlia rose to its knees and hands

Kirlia lifted its head, a small stream of a dark blue blood falling from the corner of its mouth as

it laughed. The psychic type rose to its feet laughing, its forearms both scorched harshly, still

letting off small streams of steam. Kirlia spread out both of its arms as though it was going to

give a hug, Slugma looking with confusion. As the slug looked on, it suddenly began heaving.

"What?! No way!" Flannery yelled out as Slugma coughed several times before looking at its

torso with a cringe

"Khe khe khe!" Kirlia laughed unsettlingly as it looked with its large eyes at its opponent slowly

growing in pain.

"Synchronize" Cress said completly unphased "Kirlia can make its opponent suffer the same

ailment it does"

"Kirl!" Kirlia said with a large smile as it wiped the blood on its arm

"I told you" Iian said proudly as he looked at the worried Slugma, clearly in much pain "We

won't give up, we will suffer and accept the pain, but we will push through. Now Kirlia, let's do

this!"

"No! Come on Slugma, I know you can keep going! Overheat again!" Flannery said in worry

as Kirlia centered its hands in the mid of its chest

Slugma wasted not a single moment in charging up its energy, but Kirlia was ready. The

feminine pokemon teleported quickly and appeared feet behind Slugma. As the creature spun

around, Kirlias eyes turned a pure purple glow, quickly enveloping the slug and throwing it far. As

the Slug tumbled, its senses were thrown all out of order. It attempted to charge up its energy

once more, but it was confused and could not properly channel the power, instead it hurt itself in

confusion. Before its trainer could even say another order, the poision in Slugma caused a very

quick and harsh contraction in its sternum, the pain sending the slugma to the floor, completely

unable to continue.

"Well, Slugma's out of it, Kirlia wins this one" Cress said pulling forth a red flag and lifting it

high towards Iian as his Kirlia slowly began walking towards him, its hand on its chest as it had

trouble breathing.

"Kudos, you actually got one down" Flannery said rather sarcastically as she returned

Slugma "About time you stopped sending out bug types and grass types to try and take me on,

but alas, you're still doomed to fail"

"You say that, yet last time I checked, my pokemon just won" Iian said holding his hand up,

his index and middle finger up and spread in a v shape

"Just keep talking" Flannery said annoyed as she pulled forth a second pokeball and lightly

tossed it onto the field. The pokeball hit the ground before it sprung open unleasing its contents.

Out from the glowing mass unleashed formed a very heavy set four legged pokemon. It had a

stout body with red shaggy fur and three blue ring shaped markings on both sides. It had bangs

on top of its head, droopy ears, and a tan furless muzzle.

"Camerupt...been a while since i've seen one of those" Cress said looking at the pokemon

with two large volcano like growths coming from its back

"No problem, we can take chunky the wanker over there, right Kirlia?" Iian asked looking at

Kirlia who held its hands closely on its aching chest, the toxin in its lungs hurting intensly

"Tackle!" Flannery demanded quickly as she threw forth her hand. Her Camerupt obeyed

quickly as it shot forth with surprising speed.

"Teleport!" Iian countered, yet Kirlia could not manage the move. Kirlia cringed as it attempted

to teleport, the moment of pain giving camerupt just the time it needed to throw its heavy body

forth and strike Kirlia, violently sending Iian's pokemon to the ground. "Kirlia!"

"...i'm pretty sure it's unable to continue..." Cress said looking at Kirlia who laid flat on its back,

its limbs spread out as it stared vacantly at the roof.

"Kir.." Kirlia groaned trying to stand up, as it rose to its hands and knees its chest violently

contracted. Kirlia griped its chest in pain before it fell face first on the ground.

"Well, now it is" Cress said looking at the incapacitated pokemon.

"Bloody son of a f..." Iian began before a loud snorting noise interupted him. He turned his

head quickly to see Camerupt coughing up in pain.

"...But how?" Flannery said in shock watching her camerupt cough up

"Hmm, Kirlia must have synchronized just before it passed out" Cress said nodding his head

in aknowledgment

"Haha, hell yeah!" Iian yelled with an excited jump "Kirlia pulling through!"

"...lucky break" Flannery said in an upstart tone

"Luck has nothing to do with it!" The boy retorted as he clipped Kirlia's pokeball onto his belt

and pulled forth a second ball

"...I'm pretty sure half of your skill is just stupid luck" Flannery spoke with a rolling of her eyes

"Well then, let's see how my 'stupid luck' affects Beautifly!" Iian yelled out with quite some

confidence as he threw forth his second pokeball, this time a very unusal pokemon for the trainer

coming forth. It was indeed a rather large fluttering bug with lovely patterns across its black and

grey body. Yet oddest of all were its two large eyes which seemed to twitch about, only adding to

the creatures cuteness.

"Really? That thing is supposed to beat my Camerupt?" Flannery asked looking at the jolly

little insect flutter about in the air, looking as though it was sniffing around for flowers.

"You know, I used to have a Flaaffy, and people said awfully similar statements about it" Iian

responded with a smile. "That Flaffy got me to the Unova Pokemon League"

"Oh please" Flannery said crossing her arms, "After that nonsense with the castle, no one

went to Unova, getting into their league last year wasn't the biggest of acomplishments. This is

Hoenn, you're playing with the big boys now."

"I've been fighting the big boys since I was a milksop" Iian said with a great breath of boldness

as he popped his neck, "I'm not scared of you, I knew what I was getting myself into when I

started my journey"

**A Few Weeks Earlier **

"Do you really understand what you're getting yourself into?" The middle aged woman asked

as she rocked a newborn back and forth in her arms, her accent much stronger than Iian's.

"Of course I do, I survived Unova didn't I?" Iian replied spreading his arms out in insult. He

stood next to his pokemon who all sat on the ground eating from various pots, cauldrins, and

bowls.

"I know you were still young, but if you don't remember Hoenn isn't anything like Sinnoh or

Unova" A middle aged rather tall man who was evidently the boys father spoke

"Like I said, i'm pretty sure I can handle it" Iian said in a very sarcastic and obnoxious voice,

his Umbreon staring up at him with a mouthful of food

"Look here boy, things are different here and they were different at Unova" The woman began

while she rocked her child back and forth rythmicly, "I know you're a wonderful trainer, ten times

better than your father or I ever could have imagined, but being a trainer is a very sensitive

proffesion. You have to be smart and careful, don't get cocky just because you made it far in

Unova. Even if you've tamed a feral pokemon, that doesn't mean a domestic one can't get to

you. Just look at your uncle. He caught, trained, and fully evolved an axew. What happens? He

gets killed by a seviper that caught him off gaurd in the grass..."

"I'm not daft!" Iian yelled back stomping his foot, "I know what i'm doing. And Hoenn is my

home, there's no way I'll screw up in my home. I'd kill myself if I let that happen..."

**Present day **

"Son of a f^ck!" Iian yelled out with an eye twitch as his Beautifly laid on the ground in a

smoldering crater, steam coming off of it

"Unable to continue" Cress called out looking at the pokemon, "Good battle though"

"Since when did a bug seem like a good idea to fire?" Flannery asked exasperatedly crossing

her arms and pinchng the base of her nose with her fingers "It didn't work the first three times,

why would it now?"

"Okay, you know what, I am just shutting you out!" Iian yelled returning his pokemon, "You're

just a distraction, and I need focus right now. Swellow you got this!"

"So your tailow finally evolved? Still isn't enough to beat me..." Flannery mocked

"Alright Swellow, keep calm, we got this, just be smart" Iian said to his emerging pokemon,

"Come on, come on"

"Camerupt! Let's go! Overheat!" Flannery yelled out

"Dodge it and wing attack!" Iian yelled in reply.

Camerupt wasted no time in bursting forth with an enormous blast of energy. Flames shot

forth from its backs as it spat out the swirling overheat beam. Swellow, the speedy bird, shot

forth into the air in a fast barrel roll, avoiding the beam. As Swellow shot forth, it slashed its

opponent with its wing, throwing the Camerupt back several feet in a slide.

"Don't stop camerupt! Tackle!" Flannery quickly commanded

Camerupt swung around quickly as the last flame dissipated from its back. The large beast

threw its body at Swellow. The bird attempted to dodge the attack with a sharp shot upwards into

the sky, but the enormous opponent was slightly too fast and struck the bird .

"Follow it up with another Tackle!" Flannery demanded watching Swellow strike the ground

"Quick Attack! Sweep its feet!" Iian countered with a passionate yell.

Swellow landed on the ground and threw itself back from the ground. It spread its wings in the

space of air not six inches above the ground and shot backwards. Camerupt leapt forward, but

Swellow was too fast and shot forth taking out Camerupts legs. The enormous opponent fell to

the ground hard, practically making the ground shake.

"Not bad" Cress said in a state of minor awe as Camerupt crawled to its feet.

"Air slash!" Iian commanded without delay

Swellow swung its great wings forth, shooting forth a gust of wind which shot forth with such

intesnity that it was much like a blade. Camerupt saw its opponent move a moment too late and

took the full impact of the slash which took the beast to the floor.

"Well, Camerupt is unable to continue" Cress said looking at the unconscious pokemon laid

out on the floor

"I can see that Cress!" Flannery yelled out irrate as she returned the pokemon, "Regardless, I

still have one more pokemon."

"Heh, let's see if it can do anything worth while" Iian said smugly as Flannery pulled forth her

last pokeball.

"I guess we'll see." Flannery said with a simple smile. Iian stood waiting as his opponent

tossed the last pokeball into the air. It all came down to this. Wheter or not the pokemon in the air

would win or lose, wheter or not Swellow had what it took. Weeks of trying and weeks of training.

As the Pokeball came down through the air, Iian could not help but remember seeing a very

similar sight in the Pokemon League. Iian couldn't help but have a quick memory flash of the

owner of that pokeball being Anna...or Raian.

"Neat..." Cress spoke, snapping Iian back into reality, his opponent standing across from him.

A Torkoal.

Iian smiled as he looked at his last opponent. It was high stakes, high reward, just like he liked

it. He was more than ready, he had been humiliated too much, and he wanted to show his true

skill now.

**A Few Weeks Earlier **

Iian stood leaning on a safety rail, overlooking the sky. It was a cool day, much like Sinnoh

days tended to be. Not much time before, he was fighting in a pokemon league, and now not

much later he would be in the Hoenn region. But for the moment everything was still. Everything

was calm. That is, until Iians phone gave off a small buzz.

The cellular device was buried in the boys pocket, and he could well feel it vibrating. He slowly

reached down to his pocket and lifted the device. As it continued to shake in his half hand, he

noticed the number and the name. Anna.

"Umb?" A small voice piped up from beside Iian. It was none other than his Umbreon, a proud

member of his Unova League team.

"...I shouldn't." Iian said simply as he silenced his phone, shutting off its screen, "In Hoenn, it's

just going to be us. I need to get used to the solitude. The less I depend on their company, the

better. It's for the best that I start to wean off of them now. I mean, what's the worst that can

happen?"

**Present Day **

The large red Torkoal spat forth an enormous swirling beam of fire after the flying bird.

Swellow used great skill and precision to avoid the blast which followed closesly after him,

trailing off into the gyms hard roof. Torkoal kept its eyes closed, which made its sense of where

Swellow was rather impressive, a large stream of flames erupting from a hole in its thick shell.

"Now Wing Attack!" Iian yelled out, clenching his fist tight, the battle was indeed nearing its

end. Swellow was very weak, and Torkoal was very weak, one had to give in soon.

Swellow shot down with great speed, narrowly dodging Torkoals Overheat blast. As Swellow

came close, Torkoal turned the blast directly at the bird, but the bird made a sharp barrel role at

the last moment, twirling around the blast and shooting forth into Torkoal. The birds wing, with

great velocity, struck down into the torkoal's neck, sending the creature back several feet with

force.

"Let's finish this!" Iian yelled out

"Fine by me" Flannery replied

"Swellow!" Iian yelled out at the exact instant Flannery yelled out 'Torkoal!', "Finish this off with

an Air Slash!"

"Hit it with a Tackle!" Flannery commanded in reply.

Torkoal leapt forth off of its strong legs, the turtle was slow yet extremely bulky and powerful.

Swellow wasted no time in charging up its energy and swinging its wings in a mighty shot. The

strength was so great that it sent a large wave at the opponent, stopping it in its mid air tackle.

Swellow let out a cry of pain and rage as it swung forth one more time, sending off an air slash.

The blade of wind struck the torkoal with ferocity, throwing it hard against the ground with impact.

Swellow was so low on energy that the bird fell to the ground the moment after.

"Swellow's still technically able to battle..." Cress said looking at the brd which laid on its side,

azily flapping its wing in a poor effort, "And Torkoal isn't...so...Iian wins it..."

"F^ck yeah!" Iian yelled out as he ran forth, his arms up in joy, onto the field. Flannery dropped

her arms and shoulders in dissapointment as she listened to the boy cheer.

"...damn..." Flannery said returning her unconscious Torkoal

"Ah! Too much damn bad luck." Iian said annoyed as he returned his Swellow, still joyful over

winning his fourth Hoenn gym badge, and his first returning badge, "What the hell did I do to

deserve it...?"

**Not Many Weeks Earlier **

"...Oh hey, you're home." Iian's mother called out seeing her child walk through the front door,

Umbreon by his side, "You got a package."

"Huh? From who?" Iian asked grabbing ahold of the cardboard box on the counter before him

"How am I supposed to bloody know, just open it and find out" The woman retorted annoyed

as she quickly left the room. Iian could hear her muttering curse words as she paraded down the

hall.

"Well then, what's in here?" Iian asked as he stabbed his thumb through the tape holding the

boxes top shut.

He quickly ripped through the tape and flipped the lid open, revealing a small piece of paper on

top of covered contents. Iian curiously lifted the paper up to red its writing, as he did he noticed a

large tag of paper underneath it atop what appeared to be several pokeballs and potions.

"_Dear_ Iian..." Iian began reading the letter "I know you've been busy, and I know you're

probably really excited to go back to the Hoenn Region. As such, I wanted to give you something

to help you out. Elsa and I couldn't really afford much, so we decided to forward this box to

everyone so that they could all add their own messages and gifts. Anna."

As Iian finished the first paragraph he lifted up a the tag of paper which was atop the other

goods. It was a very peculiar tag which was adorned in strange markings he was unfamiliar with.

"Anna is a bit shy, but she really wanted to give you this Cleanse Tag..." Iian continued reading

"It's for good luck and to protect you in your journey. Good Luck Iian, I know you'll do great Elsa."

"Umb?" Umbreon questioned as it leapt onto a stool next to the counter, Iian shuffling through

the box's contents while reading.

"Hey bro migo. Hillary's taking me to the Fiore region before the Hoenn region, so it's going to

be quite a while before we meet up again. We decided to give you some pokeballs, so you can

catch some pokemon and meet us in the League. Ha! See you there. Josue & Hillary" Iian read

as he lifted a nice looking clean Ultra ball from the pile of pokeballs, before turning to the last part

of the letter."...

Hey Iian, been a while, starting to miss you already. We made it man, we got through Unova,

and now you're well on your way to the Frontier. Stay strong brother, you've got this, I know you

do. We've been through so much together, that I know what you're capable of. So does Anna,

that's why she put this whole gift box together. You have a lot of people supporting you, and we

all know how much you're capable of. Kiera and I spent a lot of money on these potions and full

restores, use them wisely, you're going to need them at the Hoenn League. See you

there Raian."

Iian lifted one of the potion containers and swirled it for a moment before tossing it back in the

box. The bottom of the box was colorful and well decorated in fine papers and drawings from

everyone. Iian lifted the Cleanse tag and held it by the letter for a moment before crumpling both

up and throwing them into the box. Umbreon looked confused as Iian lifted the box and quickly

poured its contents into the nearest rubbish bin.

"Like I said, Umbreon." Iian said simply as he tossed the empty box atop the bin, "The less I

depend on them. The Better."


	2. Chapter 2

**Fiore Region **

The crackling of gravel underneath footsteps broke the rhythmic sounds of nature. The

pokemon flying overhead could be heard making their squawks as they flew off into the unknown.

The region was very peaceful, very green. The stamp of man had not truly been put on the Fiore

region. It was very close to as it had been found, very serene and natural. There was not much

foreign movement except for two lone travelers walking down the long and open road.

"...With my first badge in hand I set my sights to my next challenge. It wasn't going to be

easy, but the things in life that are most valuable, never are..." A calm slightly raspy voice said

as its owner closed a small book in her hands, "And that's the end of chapter one."

"Huh...so after all that trouble, he just accepted his victory and moved on?" A second voice

asked. This one was a boy, a teenager that is. His voice had a slight highness to it, an almost

energetic quality.

"Well, that's what you do. No matter how hard the struggle, when you've accomplished part of

your goal you don't say that it's 'good enough', you keep on going." The female replied, her boots

slowly walking onwards. Her boots reached past her ankle, yet not far up her leg. Her skin was

white with a slight bronze color tinted into it, as though she spent much time in the sun. She

wore a black skirt which clung tightly to her legs, reaching several inches above her knees. From

her waist dangled a loose brown belt which held several pokeballs on it, beside them being a

coiled rope as well as a small pouch.

With each step she took, the object on her back would shift. It was a very peculiar looking

object, hard to describe by all means. It was shaped much like a vibrant red rock or shell, with

pits of yellow along several spots. Most peculiar was the two slimy looking yellow noodle like

straps that wrapped around the womans shoulders, tugging at her open red vest. The woman

took in a deep breath of the heavy scent of wood and dirt as she adjusted her long volumesse

wavy brown hair from her face.

"This region is really strange you know?" The boy broke the silence. The boy looked much

more plain than the woman. He was a teenager, around fifteen years old, his face held a sleek

yet maturing look about it. He had very short hair, which seemed to exagerate his slightly

protruding ears. He had on his back a large backpack, stuffed to the brim with supplies. His dark

grey shorts were held up by a belt which had several pokeballs attacked, each one clanking

slightly with each of his steps. He gave his black t shirt a tug as he adjusted his red short

sleeved jacket, the heat of the sun getting to him.

"It's a land unlike many others" The woman said with a smile glancing at the trees which lined

the gravel walkway, "It's very...minimalist...The Rangers try to keep it as close to nature as

possible. Here everything is more centered on the well being of all of nature than anything else."

"Uh huh, well...it's certainly peaceful" The boy replied with a shrug of his head

"It's home" The woman added on as she continued forth down the empty peaceful road

"...so..uhh...Hillary...what exactly do we do here again?" The boy asked picking up his pace to

catch up with his comrade

"That's up to you Josue." Hillary replied simply as she grabbed ahold of her vest, resting her

arms for a moment, "Because, if you still really want to be a Ranger...this is where you start."

Josue let forth a smirk as he and Hillary began passing through a small grove of trees, luckily

blocking the sun for at least the moment.

"Well, I officially want to be a Ranger, so...what do we do?" Josue affirmed yet again

"There's quite a bit you need to learn, and Ben is where you can really learn." Hillary

responded crushing a small twig underneath her boot, the snap reverberating in the trees

"Ah of course...who's Ben?" Josue asked confused whie watching a small smooth squishy

looking head poke out of the shell on Hillary's back

"Well, if you're going to be a ranger, this is where you need to start" Hillary retorted with as her

boot crushed a twig underneath it, "There's quite a bit you need to know, and here, when you

meet Ben is where you'll really learn it."

"Alright, cool. Cool...who's Ben?" Josue asked confused as out of the shell on Hillary's back,

Shuckles smooth squishy looking head slithered out, looking around

"Okay, so, lesson one of forty two. The Ranger Hierarchy" Hillary replied, "First, understand

that there are seven classes of rangers. There are Area, Field, Park, Mantyne, Knights, Reserve,

and Spec. Area rangers are a very special kind of ranger. They're mainly active in Ranger

controllled regions such as here in Fiore, and they're best known for their Area Capture devices."

"Oh, I know some of this, my dad and mom are part of the Ranger Reserve" Josue replied

with his usual tone of upbeat cluelessness

"Huh? You never told me that" Hillary retorted with a bit of surprise, "That's something I would

have liked to know..."

"Never came up before" Josue replied seeming to shrug the question off without a care in the

world

"...anyway...most rangers start as Area rangers, I did" Hillary carried on, ignoring the new bit

of information, "Shuckle was my partner, that's how come I can't bare to be without 'em by my

side."

At the saying of this, Shuckle dropped its head down as though to give aknowledgement. Its

eyes were happily shut, showing signs of appreciation. Josue found the creature very odd, yet he

liked it, it reminded him of the wonderful way of nature.

"After being an Area Ranger for a long time, I was allowed to switch to what I am now, a field

Ranger" Hillary spoke lifting her hand to pat Shuckles smooth flesh, "Field Rangers usually do a

lot of the field work, roaming around making sure things are in order, doing whatever our

superiors tell us to. I'm lucky enough to be allowed to continue my pokemon journey with an

occasional task being tossed my way."

"That sounds like a pretty good deal" Josue replied squinting as a ray of sunshine broke

through the grove, piercing directly into his eyes for a moment.

"I had to talk to Sven myself, he's the leader of the Field Rangers, and thankefully he was

understanding." Hillary replied with just a brief smile thinking back to the fateful meeting, "Let's

see, then there are Park rangers. They're led by Kate, and they tend to all reserves and parks,

they just kind of take care of them and the wildlife."

"Bor ing" Joue blurted out in sarcastic response

"Yeah, their jobs can be a bit tedious" Hillary acknowledged, "But i'm also not a fan of the

Reserve. The Ranger Reserve, as you should know, is comprised of the police force and

emergency services. They're led by Ranger Jenny."

"Yeah, I knew that one" Josue replied

"Now...these last three classes are really different, and take much much more training, skill,

and drive than any of the others..." Hillary began staring off down the road with a serious grimace

on her face, "The Mantyne Rangers. Led by Drake. They're mainly staioned in the seas, but they

are well known for having a lot of training and being prepared for different types of threats should

they arrive, but even they aren't anything compared to the Ranger Knights."

"Ranger Knights?" Josue said with an upward inflextion, "I think my dad's mentioned them

before, don't they deal with legendary pokemon?"

"Yes and No" Hillary replied simply, "Led by Keith. They are highly, highly trained rangers.

They go through years upon years of training, preperation, and all manors of tests to become

Knights. They are the hardest of the hard. They aren't taught to be robots, they're taught to solve

problems through the best means. They have to deal with the greatest of threats. They have to

deal with legendaries as well. Extremely rare and extremely powerful pokemon are what they

deal with. They don't use traditional means of battling either, they also don't use savage means.

If there is a legendary in the picture, they are the ones that solve the problem."

"Wow..." Josue said awe struken

"And last of all are the Ranger Spec ops" Hillary continued, her tone a little less critical than

before, "Unlike the Knights, I really can't say much...really...Not only do I not know much, no one

really does. All that's allowed to be known is that some woman named Karen is in charge of the

Spec Op Rangers. Other than that, its all theories and conspiracies."

"...I'm just a bit curious" Josue broke a momentary pause, "Who leads all of these leaders?"

"Hehe...that would be..." Hillary began

**Not Much Longer **

His boots gave a slight thud as he slowly passed through the room. The room was

completely wooden, the floor had small grains of sand and dirt on it which wore it down slightly.

Hillary sat in her firm wooden chair with her legs tightly clamped and her back straight as a pole.

Josue, on the other hand, slouched seated backwards in his chair beside Hillary. His bag

haphazardly tossed on the floor.

"Hoe...Sway..." The man said in a very gruff voice as he looked through a thick yellow folder in

his hands. Peering over the folder was his hat, the sides of it folded up leaving a longer front and

back, on the very front being a silver pin with the words ' _Artibus vita, Artibus resecandaque_'

engraved into it. His brown leather boots made another solid thud with another one of his steps.

"Yes sir, Josue" Josue replied looking at the mans blue jeans which looked somewhat sun

bleached

"And Miss Hillary, I understand you are reccomending Hoe Sway to be a ranger" The man

asked in his gruff voice as he slowly peered over the folder at Hillary

"Yes Sir, I believe he's a natural..." Hillary replied extremly nervously

"Excuse me..." Josue interupted abruptly, "...Who are you?"

"The name's Deegan. Walter Deegan" The gruff voice replied dropping the folder down onto

the desk, revealing a rather well kept yet rugged mustache connecting to a goatee. His face

looked elder yet tough, he indeed looked like a seasoned Ranger, his ragged ranger jacket only

affirming it.

"Wait...as in the..." Josue began

"Yes as in the!" Deegan replied in a great hearty voice, still retaining its gruff nature

"Sir, please! I know he has some...problems...but he has more than eno..." Hillary began to

plead before Walter threw his hand up, the woman stopping immedietly

"Oh..I know about this boy." Deegan began, "Thinks because Mommy and Daddy are

rangers, he's one too. Thinks because he made it to the first round of the Unova league he's a

great trainer..."

"How does he...?" Josue muttered, darting his eyes to the folder

"Now then. Normally Ben and his stupid Raichu would be here to deal with you, but he's not. I

am" Deegan continued, his voice sounding unintentionally harsh, "Believe it or not boy, I saw that

match. And yes, you did indeed show some promise. Believe it or not, I actually have worked

with both your father and mother, and I know how skilled they are. Let me explain this to you, I

know your skill level and what you are capable of ten times better than you ever will. Ben may be

in charge of this region, and he may deal with the rookies more than me, but I am more than

qualified to deal with you."

Josue tried to open his mouth to speak, but for the first time in a long time he found he

couldn't. Josue found he was at a loss for words. It was such a foreign feeling that he had half a

mind to open a bag of chips to give him an excuse for not talking.

"Miss Hillary, to my understanding you are still permitted to continue your little 'journey',

correct?" Deegan asked turning to the nervous young woman

"Sir, Yes sir" Hillary spouted her programmed response, to which Deegan held up his hand to

silence the woman.

"Well then...turns out you're in luck Joshy Boy" Deegan began as he pulled forth a small

stack of papers and outstretched them to Josue. Josue quickly began looking at them to see

several pictures of a strange set of locations, "See those? Those are the Mirage Locations in

Hoenn. Heard of 'em?"

"Umm..." Josue hummed in confusion, the staggering lack of words creating an

uncomfortable knot in his stomach

"The Mirage Locations are very peculiar locations rather distinct from the external world

around them" Deegan replied simply, "They are best known for their mirage like status in that

they are only visible at extremely rare times. In fact, we've come up with the little number 65535.

You have about a one in 65,535 chance of ever seeing the loactions. We believe that it's due to a

special magnetic field around the loactions that attracts certain elements which reflect and repel

light in odd ways, making it difficult to actually pinpoint where the locations are. As such, Ben and

I came up with a little plan...If you can visit both the Mirage Tower and Mirage Island and bring us

back some proof and some data, we'll accept you into the Rangers program..."

"Wait...so two loactions with a 1:65535 chance of being seen...doesn't that roughly mean I

have a one in 4,294,836,225 chance off hand of ever seeing both these locations and thus

become a trainer?" Josue blurted out with a quick calculation in his head

"Take it or leave it." Deegan replied simply taking a large step forth, "Miss Hillary, Josue, I beg

your pardon, but I must leave now. Contemplate the offer."

Like a shadow when the lights are thrown on, Deegan dissapeared without a trace. The

experienced ranger was like a spectre, gruff yet mysterious, old and wise, intimidating and

respectable, Walter Deegan fit all of it.

"...Josue I understand if..." Hillary began before being quickly cut off

"Alright, well we don't have a lot of time, we better get going if we want the best chances of

seeing those islands." Josue said proudly as he sprung up and hoisted his bag over his

shoulder.

The boy casually strolled forth for the exit, not a care in his mind as he readied for the journey.

Hillary couldn't help but allow a smile to spread across her face, the boy's optimism was

contagious.

As the front door could be heard closing, Josue on his way, Hillary began yet was suddenly

stopped by a voice.

"Miss Hillary?" A voice familiar yet soft came forth. As Hillary turned around she could see

Deegan standing mostly hidden by the shadows, his hat in his hands allowing his short grey

peppered hair to show.

"Yes sir?" Hillary asked straightening up, a bit confused

"Am I correct in saying you will be with Josue every step of his journey in the Hoenn region?"

Deegan asked, his voice far less critical than it had been. In fact, what had been very firm and

intimidating, had suddenly turned oddly comforting. His voice sounded like an older and wise

man, a grandfather's voice.

"I plan to" Hillary replied nodding her head, unsure of wheter to be casual or formal in her

answer

"Please, do me a favor" Deegan spoke in his calming voice, Hillary leaning in close to hear his

words, "Make sure he succeeds in his mission. I know it isn't easy, but i'm positive it can be

done."

"I don't fully understand..." Hillary said confused at Deegans change of heart

"I apologize for any confusion, but I need your help in assuring Josue will complete his

mission." Deegan replied, "I believe in you..."

**Many Years Ago **

"Ah, so this is what you've been up to?" A young man wearing a hat with its sides folded up

said as he sat down on the thick metal girder

"A Job is a job" The man he sat next to replied, his hand over his brow casting a shadow over

his face, "What I do here sets the foundation for the future, for my children, so that they can

make the best of their world."

"I guess so, but isn't this just a bit of a step down from your old job?" The hat wearer asked in

his gruff voice as he patted down his small chin beard and mustache, "As a Ranger you were

doing just the same, you were protecting this land and its pokemon for the future generations.

Your brother in law and I miss you."

"Everyone has a different role to fill to protect our future." The seated man responded leaning

back, overlooking the vast landscape, "And my role is here, to build this Frontier. Your role is as a

Ranger, to protect the pokemon."

"But that was your role too. And you were a damn good Ranger, why are you so content to be

a mere worker now? Because you have a family?" The gruff voice questioned

"Deegan." The second voice began running his hand over the cold metal of the steel he sat

on, "I know no one is ever supposed to say it, but I feel as though something bad is on its way.

To be perfectly honest, I feel as though my time on this planet is limited. But...that's true for

everyone. We're all mere specs of dust in the wind. But, there's nothing wrong with that. As long

as in the end you can look back and say, 'Yes...I did something worthwhile in my life'. And you

know what? I did. I wouldn't give up a single second of my life. But now I just want to do one

more thing. Even if my feeling is just paranoa, I don't really care. My Family is my future, being a

Ranger was my past, and now being a worker is my present. I like it. And I will continue to do it.

Not for me, for my children, for my wife, for my brother in law, for you, for everyone."

**Present Day **

"...For everyone" Deegan muttered to himself as he sat at a large wooden desk, holding a

small framed picture in his hand, "Heh...you old b stard, you did it. And I see your future now.

Your nephew huh? It seems to run in the family."

"Oh lord, you aren't going to cry are you?" A feminine voice asked as Deegans door slowly

creapt open revealing a petite female figure standing before him

"What are you doing here?" Deegan asked in his gruff voice as he tossed the picture into a

drawer quickly

"We have business to go over." The woman replied

"Tough sh!t, I have Ranger business to deal with. You can take it up with Bob." Deegan

responded aggrivated

"I don't think you heard me..." The woman began as she threw a folder foth onto Deegans

desk, out of its corner a piece of paper protruded ever so slightly revealing a name. Josue. "We

have business to discuss."


	3. Chapter 3

**The Sinnoh Region, Not too long ago**

From the silence a very light knock rapped upon the wooden door. The young adult standing on the opposite side of the door sighed as she tapped again. Still no response.

"Ugh" The girl said with exasperation as she sank to the floor, her back resting on the door, "That makes the fifth house in a row"

"Dit..." a small blob like creature aside the girl replied sympathetically

"And we're so close too!" The girl pleaded as she buried her face into her hands, her brown ponytail flopping down over her face, "Just 3,000 more and we can get the ticket..."

"Ditt" The creature sadly retorted as its body lifted up and slowly morphed into that of a furry cat with a gold coin on its head, sadly rubbing against its owner

"What I wouldn't do for just a little bit of luck" The girl said lifting her head and lightly patting her pokemons head, "We're so close, yet so far from the Hoenn Region. If only..."

As she said this a small crumbled piece of paper struck her leg, being carried by the wind. Both the girl and her pokemon shot their eyes up to the source of the debris. There they saw a trashbag peeking out of a large trash bin, the top of it ripped open as though by some hungry pokemon, the inside showing a crumbled cardboard box with some colorful paper protruding.

"Huh?" The girl said confused as she rose to her feet, lifting the paper and unfolding it to see strange markings on it "Why would someone throw away a cleanse tag?"

She took a few steps forward to see that underneath the box was a glittering piece of metal, a spherical piece of metal at that. The girl stuck her hand into the rubbish to feel a hard collection of items, she quickly pulled the box away and was more than surprised to see a large collection of pokeballs and potions there in the trash, as good as new.

"...you've got to be kidding me..." The girl said in shock as she glanced down at her newly obtained cleanse tag

**Not Much later-Elsewhere**

Raian took one large breath of air as he overlooked the great stretch of land. It was called the Gible Reserve for a reason, even from as high up as he was he could see herds of gible happily moving along the grounds. Something about the reserve was peaceful, and it seemed to be just what Raian needed before moving out. Raian had changed very little in his time of relaxation, he wore his new grey jacket, a pair of worn jeans, and his usual dangling pokeball carrier which held six pokeballs, one of which was a Love ball and quite noticeably different than his others. The only real change of the boy was his face, his hair no longer as long and unkempt, now it was moderatly short, yet still jet black.

"Melo!" The joyful Meloetta said as she floated alongside Raians head

"Hey there" Raian said without batting an eye as he continued to lean on the wooden railing overlooking the sunrise

"Melo-et?" the creature asked as it floated above Raian's head and dropped its head as to look at him upside down

"I'm just a bit sad is all" Raian said lifting his hand to pat Meloetta on the head "After so long with all my pokemon...and so little with you...I have to leave all of you so I can go to the Hoenn region"

"Melo-etta" The little pokemon said in a reassuring tone as she floated to the railing to sit down

"It's part of being a trainer" Kiera's voice broke out from behind Raian. Raian turned his head to see the young woman, she looked a bit different than she had. She now had long soft pink hair which slowly faded to purple and then blue around her bangs.

"Leaving the pokemon you trained?" Raian asked as he turned back to the sun "Sounds like the opposite of being a trainer..."

"Not that" Kiera replied as she moved next to Raian "Starting new adventures. It's what we do...No matter where you go, all your pokemon will still be waiting for you, they'll still be your allies. And they understand that in order to move forward, you need to carry on without them at some times"

"But it is it really worth it?" Raian asked turning to Kiera, a worried look on his face

"Think of it just like your friends." Kiera replied with a smile "Don't think your time with them is over because you have to go, just know that you'll be with them again soon enough."

Raian smiled as he turned back to the sun, he was still more than a little nervous, but he understood it, and he knew he had to do what he had to do.

"Plus..." Kiera continued "It's Hoenn, not Unova, they have contests...so you can use any pokemon you want in those..."

Raian smiled as he thought about it, the next region, Hoenn. He knew it would be difficult, to train two groups, a coordination group and a gym group. Yet he was more than up for the challenge, in fact, he was excited to begin.

**The Next Day-Hoenn Route 101**

"Hoenn" Raian said in a simple voice as he overlooked the calm scene around him, no breeze to blow the hoodie he wore, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, "Kind of warm..."

"Lu-car!" Lucario suddenly pipped up beside Raian, the bi-pedal crature happily following after its trainer on the lonely road. The creature looked quite well, its fur soft, its body well kept.

Raian found he couldn't say anything for a moment as he patted his partner on the back of the head. Lucario retuning a joyful smile.

"It's funny just how many people told me not to bring you..." Raian began looking at his friend "They said it's illegal for me to use you in gym battles. They said you would just take one of the vital spots on my team. They even said that if I plan on using you for contets, I can just get you at the contest PCs. Mica even offered to give me a gible to start my new journey with..."

"Lu-car" Lucario replied a bit nervously rubbing the back of its head

"But honestly...I just couldn't bare to be here without you" Raian replied with a great smile patting Lucario on the back, "Being here without my friends or other pokemon is more than enough of a challenge! So then, we aren't too far from Rustboro...well...that's a bit of a lie, we have a solid while, but regardless, we need to catch us a pokemon!"

"Lucar!" Lucario replied energetically

**Not Far Down the path**

"Alright Ditto, Skitty, Mudkip." The familiar voice happily exclaimed as it walked down the path, the large new looking backback on her back clanking with each step, "So far we haven't been doing 'bad', but the point is, we can do better. When we get to Rustboro I plan to wipe the floor with Roxanne!"

As the girl exclaimed this, the cleanse tag pinned to her shirt above her breast, bounced forth. She was a rather plain looking girl, her legs a bit long being the only true distinguishable feature. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her blue eyes gleamed optimistically in the light.

"I want to be the best pokemon breeder known to man, and to do that I need to be able to train my pokemon to the best of their ability!" The girl happily threw her fist down onto her other hand as she began to daydream, "Beth the Best Breeder Both Boy and Bird can Beseech. The Brawn of a Boldore, the Brain of a Bundle of Beldum...

Ah...I'll be so great. I'll have batches of Legendary creatures by my side. All breed to be the perfect shape and size they could be. To have the best natures they could desire. To be able to learn the greatest moves they could dream of.

Oh But not only legendaries, i'll also be the ultimate pokemon breeder in general! I'll have shiny golden creatures that people didn't even know of. A Golden Gathering of Great Genome Gauged Giants! People will come from miles around to admire my pokemon, and to see them battle! I'll breed all the greatest trainers pokemon! The top ten trainers of the world will all have pokemon that I bred!

Just imagine how wonderful it will be, just imagine! Me! That girl that used to be a ballerina turning into the World's Greatest Pokemon Breeder!..."

"Well... world's most humble trainer isn't exactly happening anytime soon..." A voice suddenly pierced through the daydream

"Ohmygoodness!" Beth called out as she leapt backwards in fear, suddenly catching sight of the young man who stood before her. There, feet from the girl stood Raian cradling a Ralts in his arms, an empty potion container in his hand

"Sorry...? Didn't mean to scare you" Raian said looking at the girl, which he found to be a rather cute girl, of course being stuck on a farm with only one woman for the past few days had certainly gotten to him.

"Oh it's fine, I did get a little carried away there" Beth replied regaining her sense of the world

"Hi, i'm Raian" Raian said holding out his hand

"Elizabeth, everyone just calls me Beth though" The girl replied calmly shaking Raian's hand

"Oh, well nice to meet you, I hope I see you around Eliza" Raian said walking forth, Lucario tailing after him as they took off into the grass

"...Huh..." Beth said before shrugging and continuing her walk.

**Two Weeks Later- Rustboro City**

"Haha! I knew we could do it" Beth said happily holding her new Badge high in the air, the sun glimmering off of it.

"Mudki" The small blue mudskipper on her shoulder happily responded out of its exhaustion

"Now we can rest up a bit before we get back on the road" Beth said turning her head to the large pokemon center beside her, "That was a good match, but we're a little behind where I thought we would be at."

"Mu?" The creature questioned as its trainer entered through the large sliding glass doors of the center

"I know I know, fresh out of school I'm not really quite the best trainer yet" Beth replied patting her comrade, "But i'm smart enough to know how to maximize my time and best handle the situation. Honestly, we were pretty lucky to beat Roxanne so quickly, normally fresh trainers have a problem against her."

"...Diana you promised!" The pink haired nurse behind the counter said in desperation on the phone as she set out a tray for Beth

"The way I see it, we're roughly right on schedule" Beth said unclipping the three pokeballs on her belt, "Thanks to you that is."

"I'm not calling you that, you can have all your friends call you Poké if you want, but you're a Joy! Like it or not" The Nurse continued on the phone as Beth returned her Mudkip

"Hmm, as long as I keep a moderate pace, I should be able to reach the next city in decent enough time" Beth carried on as the Nurse handed off the tray of pokeballs to the machine behind her

"Diana Joy!" The nurse yelled in a muffled yell into the phone, "I'm busy right now and really can't argue! Just be there! You can take your stupid Wobbuffet"

"Alright, so then, I have enough money to last me through the next two cities.." Beth carried on ignoring the Nurse as she turned to the television which was showing the news with the caption '_DJ Pok3 to donate tour profits to unknown charity_', "But I should probably take on a few battles to get some money just in case."

"Here you go, we've restored your pokemon to full health, we hope to see you again" The nurse said with a smile handing Beth her pokeballs, "Seriously though Diana, Mom expects you to be there, Grandma expects you to be there, everyone! Just put the stupid thing on hold for one day!"

"All better?" Beth asked releasing Mudkip

"Mu!" The creature replied happily leaping onto Beth's shoulder

"Good! We should get moving" Beth replied beginning to walk, the sound of the Nurse arguing on the phone still audible as she walked out of the glass doors.

"Mu?" The small blue comrade questioned as Beth walked forth

"Well, we're going to get on the road, tomorrow we'll do some training, and we'll continue training up to the next city." Beth said walking forth, "We're in good shape now and we should be if we stick to the plan"

As she said this the wind let forth a gust, blowing the end of her cleanse tag towards a building down the street. The building was none other than the Rustboro Trainer School and Gym. The Gym was the home to Roxanne, and just so happened to be where a certain trainer was fighting at the moment.

**Inside the Rustboro Gym**

"Alright Roxanne, i've passed the quizzes, now let's take the test!" Raian yelled out passionately gripping his fist, Lucario by his side mirroring the motion.

"You've definitely proven that you have some potential, but this isn't the time for bad test takers" Roxanne called out setting her feet proudly in spot of her trainers box. The woman was just as prim and proper as ever, her essence itself shouted 'teacher'.

"Alright, we've got this! Come on out Dustox!" Raian yelled out throwing forth his pokeball, the metal sphere still retaining a bit of heat from its use moments ago against the student trainers

"Tsk Tsk, you aren't off to a good start at all" Roxanne said resting her hands on her hips and shaking her head, "How on earth did you beat my students? This is a Rock gym, a bug type is nothing more than a berry to smoosh. Geodude, let's show Mister Raian here that he must learn!"

As she said this she threw forth a pokeball which spouted out a thick rock creature with two arms jutting from its side.

"Geo-dude!" The rock pokemon said as it slammed its fist into its hand

"Alright Dusty, we've got this!" Raian called out

"Lu-car!" Lucario added

"Geodude! Rock Throw!" Roxanne called out throwing her arm forth, a gust of the stagnant air blowing past her sleeve

"Oh no you don't! Dustox dodge it!" Raian retorted quickly as the Geodude thrust forth its hands into the hard ground and pulled forth two large chunks of rock, wasting no time in hurling them at the fluttering pokemon. Dustox quickly shot forth into a corkscrew motion, avoiding the two large rocks as it did so.

**Meanwhile in Sinnoh**

"...Stay safe, bye-bye" Serenity said hanging up the phone, "Josue is doing just fine,"

"Sig" Sigiyph replied with a breath of exhaustion as it lazily hovered beside Serenity, the creature quite tired

"I know, you're tired, but we still need to get the work done" Serenity replied patting her pokemon comrade gently.

"Sylv!" A white and pink quadruped retorted as it lifted its exasperated head from the cold floor

"Well Mica has his own work to do, Raian's in Hoenn so he won't be able to help, Josue is barely leaving Fiore on his way to Hoenn, and Mijo is still in Johto" Serenity replied to her overworked team which all laid about the room in exhaustion, "So it's just like the old days Sigilyph"

"Vap-Vap" The sprawled out blue creature on the couch moaned out

"Help?" Serenity questioned as she took a step forth, "Where would I even get help? I don't want anything from the Rangers, I can handle this all on my own..."

With this huff, all the pokemon let out a simultaneous sigh of disbelief and exasperation. They were all extremely out of energy, yet they still needed to do more work.

"Flare-flare" The red fluffy creature beside Serenity panted

"We're just fine." Serenity replied, "You guys and the pokemon in the garden are more than enough company, and i've been able to handle this farm just fine for years and years...although...I did usually have help...but still! We can handle this!"

"Lea..." The green Leafeon groaned from one of the couches

"Sigil" Sigilyph added on

"If you want some more helpers you'll just have to wait a few years" Serenity replied "Unless Mijo has another one, you'll have to wait for Mica to have a family...then we can have another young helper."

At this all the pokemon let forth another unanimous sigh of exasperation. All the pokemon had been working very long and needed some help, they needed some new children to help out with the chores.

**Back In Rustboro**

"So far i'm disappointed..." Roxanne said with an air of boldness as her Geodude hovered back towards her, "I saw how you handled my students and I thought you could have done something worthwhile."

"I can!...I just...got off to a bad start" Raian retorted as he returned his unconscious Dustox, "You're still going down!"

"'You're going down', 'It isn't over yet', 'Just you wait'," Roxanne counted off, "Don't you kids ever change your comebacks? Would it kill you to say something else?"

"Oh, come out oddish!" Raian replied aggravated

Raian threw forth his hand to release a small, rather peculiar, creature. There stood the little bugger, several large strips of grass protruding from its round head, or body as it lacked a neck, arms, or any real distinguishing limb aside from legs.

"Odd-ish!" The creature happily leapt forth with a joyful spin

"That's a tad odd..." Roxanne said watching the creature happily jump up and down

"You might say its..." Raian began "Oddis..."

"Don't you dare!" Roxanne interrupted, "...although I did run into that..."

"So are you ready to get this going or what?" Raian asked with a smug grin

"Fine, let's get this underway" Roxanne said with a sarcastic brow lift

**Not much later**

The enormous snake-like collection of rocks smashed into the ground hard, allowing a large dust cloud to kick up. The dust spread out like a wind over the happy dancing oddish who continued its peculiarly joyful bouncing up and down.

"That's two down, one to go!" Raian called out happily throwing his hand out with his index and middle finger spread in the shape of a V.

"Hmph" Roxanne huffed as she returned her pokemon, the Onix, "Oh don't you worry, my last pokemon can handle you just fine."

"That's what they all say" Raian mocked as Roxanne pulled forth a book she had tucked under her arm. She quickly flipped open the book to reveal a pokeball nestled into a small indent in the books pages, a secret storage.

"Let's see how you handle Nosepass!" Roxanne happily called out as she clicked the pokeball and tossed it forth.

"Nosepass?" Raian questioned as the pokeball bounced off the ground and unleashed one of the most unique creatures he had ever seen, possibly just aside from Shuckle. It was a very thick rock-based creature with an enormous nose like formation on its face.

"Nosepass." Roxanne said with a huff as she crossed her arms

"Well...makes sense I guess" Raian said raising a brow, "Anyway, Oddish! Poison Powder!"

"Nosepass harden!" Roxanne called in retaliation

Oddish wasted no time in leaping into the air, shaking the tuft of grass blades on its head violently. As it shook, a cloud of purple powder began to pour out. Nosepass quickly slapped its arms in close as its already hard body tightened up further, the hard covering being reinforced from underneath through a flow of energy and tightening muscles.

"Follow it up with an absorb!" Raian called out

"Tackle!" Roxanne replied in her calm collected tone, tossing her hand out in a dismissing fashion

Oddish landed feet from Nosepass and short forth a small string of thin roots from its head. Nosepass shot forth on its stubby legs, and threw its body weight forth, striking oddish hard. The small roots burrowed into Nosepass' thick rock-like hide and absorbed a small supplement of nutrients before being stricken.

"Rock Throw" Roxanne added in her almost pretentious tone

Nosepass quickly threw its hands to the ground and pulled forth a large clump of sediment rock, throwing it. Oddish let forth a happy smile as it bounced forth, spinning on the toes of its feet. Nosepass continued to throw forth several rocks as Oddish randomly danced forward, somehow avoiding the projectiles.

"Oddish Acid!" Raian retorted watching his pokemon randomly spin through the field of rocks

"Odd-ish!" Oddish happily called out as it leapt forth

"Not on my watch, Tackle now!" Roxanne called out

Nosepass didn't waste a second before springing forth and striking oddish with great force. Oddish shot back and tumbled across the ground hard.

"Oddish!" Raian called out with panic as his pokemon slid forth feet from him, its eyes practically swirling as it let out a groan

"Oddish is unable to continue" Roxanne said swishing her head back mockingly

"Alright, that was...kind of my trump card..." Raian whispered to Lucario as he returned Oddish, "So we have...Ralts...Oh jeesh."

"We're waiting" Roxanne said sarcastically as Raian plucked forth his last pokeball

"..here goes nothing...Ralts! Come on out!" Raian yelled out throwing forth his pokeball

"Ralts?" The small creature questioned as it emerged

"A Ralts?" Roxanne asked looking at the small confused looking creature

"It was the first pokemon I met here, saved the little one from a..." Raian began

"Ralts!" Ralts huffed quickly throwing its hands to its hips as it stood up tall

"Sorry jeesh" Raian said holding his hands up, "Ralts doesn't like me sharing backstory."

"Uh-huh...your...pet...doesn't like you sharing backstory...?" Roxanne questioned looking at Raian as though he was an idiot

Suddenly, without any form of warning Ralts disappeared, teleported to the side of Nosepass and threw forth its body in a tackle, taking down the rock pokemon.

"Ralts!" ralts called out as the pokemon sprung to its feet

"Hehe, Ralts isn't stupid, and neither am I" Raian called out as he mockingly pulled an eyelid down and stuck his tongue out at Roxanne, "So don't act like we are."

"Fine then, let's see how you can handle this!" Roxanne replied "Nosepass Tackle!"

"No-ose!" The rock creature called out as it suddenly threw its body forth at its enemy

"Now!" Raian called out to his comrade

Roxanne half expecting to see the pokemon teleport was astounded to see the creature throw one of its hands up, throw out its other elbow, and spin on the tip of its toes out of the way by a small fraction of space.

"And Confusion!" Raian added

Ralts watched the Nosepass strike the ground, as it did ralts let forth a wave of psychic energy, hitting Nosepass with critical damage.

"Nosepass! Rock throw!" Roxanne yelled out, her calm tone a bit askew

Nosepass, despite its spinning vision and aching head, drove its arms into the ground to grab rocks. Ralts wasted no time in teleporting directly behind the creature and throwing itself into another tackle.

"Believe it or not, I actually have spent a lot of time training my pokemon" Raian said with a chuckle as Nosepass achingly rose to its feet, only to fall back to the ground, "Nosepass...is...unable to continue. Ralts wins."

"...the match goes to the challenger" Roxanne finished with a grin looking up at Raian

"This is going to be an interesting region" Raian said turning to Lucario at his victory

"I wonder what else this region has in store" Beth said in wonder as she carried her walk forward, her Mudkip happily staring off in the distance

"Mu-kip" The creature replied

"As long as we got our good luck charm, I'm sure we'll do just fine" Beth added patting down the cleanse tag pinned to her shirt, the tag proudly displaying its message

"We'll do just fine" Iian said with a laugh, berry juice running down his chin and his hand from the large half eaten berry he grasped, "It's our region"

"Blaze" Blaziken added with a smug smirk, looking over the boats view of the water

"In just a short time me, you, and all the guys will be back where we belong" Iian added, "Bloody wankers won't know what hit 'em"

"And on my way to being a Ranger" Josue happily said as he took large steps forward

"And you still have no worries about failing?" Hillary asked, her Shuckle still sticking its head forth from its shell

"Bah, Failing isn't in my vocabulary" Josue retorted buzzing his lips, "Living life fearing failure isn't really living life. Sometimes you have to accept what you're given. You know, twenty years from now I won't regret the things I did, I'll regret the things I didn't do."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

"A lot!"

"Pfft, you worry too much"

"No, I worry just the right amount! You can't worry too much!"

"You can and are. We're just going to help the kid out, then bam, back on our way!"

"I don't like this..."

"You never do."

"Hey, I'm the Big Sister, it's my job to worry"

"Well then, fine, I'm the little sister, it's my job to have fun and force you to do things"

"...Anna..."

"Don't give me that tone Elsa, I promise nothing will go wrong!"

"...uggh...fine!"

"Great! You won't regret this!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Arca-nine!" the mighty beast roared as it leapt forth through the air. As it did so, its body began glowing, its back legs fusing together.

"You fool, my resonance with arcanine is the strongest there is!" The blonde teenager yelled out as Arcanine flew before him, its body completely illuminating as it morphed.

The man grabbed a hold of what had once been the Pokémon's legs, suddenly the glow dissipated and the Arcanine had morphed into a great sword. The hilt had a small flume from its end, its handle ending in curving spikes that appeared to be claws.

"You may have mastered resonance, but you are still no match for me!" The foe called out. It was what appeared to be a mummy, wrapped in linen holding a sword, its hilt holding an eye, a long rag of clothe wrapping around his forearm.

"My bond with Arcanine is far greater than yours with Aegislash!" The blonde yelled back, "We will defeat you!"

"So funny, your master has you so blinded with hope and love that you cannot see straight" The mummy called out, his sharp canine-like teeth peering through the linen

"My master has not blinded me!" The blonde yelled, "But your hate has blinded you!"

"Such a terrible show…" The woman's voice broke through the trance, "I don't know why so many people like it."

"Soul Pokémon, Adventures For The Hope Eater?" Iian asked watching the two men on the television exchange words, "It's not that bad"

"Well I'm sure for a traveler any story about adventure and hope is a good one." The woman replied adjusting the small hat atop her head, the medical cross on it perfectly centered above her head.

"…true." Iian replied palpating the scar of his shredded hand through his glove, "When you've been out there you learn the true value of hope. I used to think it sounded so cheesy…that was before a Druddigon nearly killed me and my friends."

"Is that how that happened?" The nurse asked changing the channel of the television, "Your hand?"

"Nope." Iian replied simply, "That right there is what they don't tell you about in school. That is what the television shows and books ignore. Just a simple run of the mill low level Pokémon. That's all it took. One moment of idiocy and a lifetime without half my hand."

"Ouch" The nurse said grabbing Iians hand and slowly tugging on his glove, "Was it worth it? Learning the importance of being careful at the cost of your hand?"

"Hell no, bloody hurt like sh!t" Iian replied in a surprisingly calm tone as the nurse pulled his glove off

"Heh, the only thing I remember hurting bad was getting my tattoo" The nurse replied slowly rubbing Iians hand

"A nurse with a tattoo?" Iian asked staring at the brunettes brown eyes, completely unaware of the news report above his head

"All are advised to be on guard, renowned thief…." The news report spoke

"Want to see it?" The woman asked in an unusual breathy voice

"'d love to darling" Iian replied leaning forth a little

"Hey!" A voice yelled out suddenly, Iian quickly turned to see a pink haired woman dressed in a nurse's uniform running into the room, strands of torn rope dangling from her shoulders

"Huh?" Iian asked turning to the woman, suddenly he felt a large pressure on his shoulder, as he looked upwards he saw the brunette leaping over him and running forth in a full sprint, a purrloin following after.

"Get her!" The nurse yelled as the woman ran through the front doors, saluting everyone as she ran.

"Uhh…what?" Iian asked completely confused

"Someone stop her!" The nurse yelled out running to the front door

"..Known simply as Lumi. This brown haired thief is known for her cunning and brazen robberies" The television finished as Iian looked down to see his glove missing.

**Several Days later**

"B!tchB!tchB!tchB!tch…" Iian muttered to himself as he walked through the tight grove of trees, "I swear to all that is holy I will get that Lumi wanker!"

"Ga…" the humanoid Pokémon accompanying Iian began before he interrupted it

"5000 damn poke is all we have left! No wallet, no glove, f^cking nothing!" Iian yelled as he squeezed through two close knit trees, his hips getting stuck, "From bloody bad to worse, to absolute sh!t show!"

"Ga…" the humanoid Pokémon replied as it pushed on Iians rump, forcing him through the tree clutch

"Damn it Gal! We barely have anything left and I'm sure something stupid is going to…" Iian began before a loud ripping sound filled the air. The boy stumbled forth to look down at his jeans, one of the pant legs ripped from mid thigh to foot cuff

"…Ga…" The Pokémon said in a sad tone as it stuck its head through the trees, looking down at its trainer

"You…have got to be f^cking kidding me…" Iian said looking down at his pasty white leg

"Ga…" The Pokémon said looking at Iian

"Gal get me up!" Iian yelled, "Bloody sh!te!"

The psychic humanoid grabbed Iian by the arm and aided him to his feet, the young man cursing under his breath.

"Where the bloody f^ck is Fortree!" Iian yelled at the top of his lungs as he patted his torn jeans down

"About a hundred and forty feet to the north" A rather hyped voice said suddenly. Iian turned his head to see a boy standing feet from him. It was a brown haired kid with wild hair protruding from his red baseball cap, his red jacket disheveled, and his jeans quite filthy.

"Uhh…thank…" Iian began

"You smell like the color teal, you aren't from here are you?" The kid asked in an incredibly rushed voice, his head seeming to shake slightly at every rushed word

"Actually I…" Iian began again

"Well, I mean you're from here, but you aren't from from here." The boy cut Iian off, "Like, you were born here, I can see that certain je ne about you, but you don't really seem like it, almost likeyouwereraisedsomewhereelseforalongtime,knowwhatImean?"

"Yeah I…" Iian started

"Anyway I'm Twitch…" The boy said, putting his hand out for Iian to shake, before Iian could even react the boy began up again, "Well, my real name isn't twitch, it's just what I'm called, not entirely sure why, guess it's because I have a twitch, in which case I feel that's a bit uncreative, anyway, I gots to get going, places to see, Bye-ba-bye."

"Uhh…yeah…" Iian said as he waved at the energetic kid running off into the woods

"Ga?" The Pokémon partner of Iian said waving

"Well that was…" Iian began, "…where did my poke dollars go?...Son of a …!"

**Not Much Later**

"…2000 poke left…no extra pokeballs…no glove…ripped pants…" Iian dragged his words as he sluggishly walked through the enormous collection of trees, treehouses built quite elegantly, connected and interweaving in the sky

"Ga…" The psychic evolve form of Ralts replied rubbing the back of its head uneasily.

"Oh my…" An elderly voice peered through the crowd, directed towards Iian, "Another coordinator huh? Oh such a lovely Pokémon, so elegant, so majestic"

"Ga?" The Pokémon questioned as the woman examined every inch of it

"…excuse me?" Iian asked looking at the odd elderly woman

"Oh I'm sure you'll do just great, especially with this" The woman said poking her cane into the Pokémon's squishy white and green spots.

"Oh no…this can't be…" Iian groaned putting his face into his palms, "You aren't saying this is a…"

"Coordination town" The woman finished

The scream that followed was so intense that birds for miles flew out of fear. People on the opposite side of the town could hear the young man's groan of agony.

"Alight, so now we're stuck in a forsaken hell hole that loves stupid coordination, and we need to find a gym and get a bloody badge" Iian muttered to himself as he uneasily wobbled across the wooden sky bridge, several dozen feet in the air, the treetops offering a small bit of shade

"Ga" The white and green companion replied as it walked forward simply with small steps, its arms held to its side.

"Gal, the second we find the gym leader is the second we can get this over with" Iian grumbled as he drudged forth, suddenly hearing applause, "The f^ck?"

As Iian walked forth on the wooden walkway he saw a large platform filled with a crowd of people all looking upwards. The young man slowly turned his head up in synch with his Pokémon, both seeing an odd spectacle in the sky.

There atop a small pedestal in the center of the crowd stood a woman, it was a very peculiar woman, her purple hair protruding in two horn like tufts from under her aviary cap. She wore an odd blue one-piece uniform with white sleeves and leggings underneath. This woman atop the pedestal had an arm full of large wooden rings.

"Who's this dame?" Iian asked as the woman threw one of the rings up into the air, suddenly a blue fluffy bird shot through the ring before flipping around and grabbing a hold of it.

Everyone in the crowd clapped as the large necked blue bird gently landed atop the trainers shoulder, the woman grabbing the ring before bowing.

"That was amazing, great job Winona!" A voice from the crowd yelled out. As the crowds clapping died down, one slow solemn sarcastic clap broke through.

"Oh spectacular, you did so damn much." Iians voice broke out, his Pokémon quickly grabbed his shoulder trying to hold him back, Iian shrugging the creature off, "Please, by all means carry on. I love watching pretentious wankers pretend they have any skill because their Pokémon can do some simple trick."

"Miss Winona do you want me to get rid of this loser?" A large black dressed man beside the woman asked as he looked at Iian

"No it's fine, I can handle him" The woman, Winona, replied as another large man gracefully lowered her off the pedestal, "Hey there pal. What's your name?"

"Iian" Iian replied simply as he crossed his arms smugly

"Iian, alright, do you know who I am?" Winona asked

"Of course I do, you've seen one you've seen them all" Iian replied taking a step forward, "I know you coordinators, I lived a lot of my life near a coordination city, hell, I lived a lot of my life with a good friend who was a coordinator. You're all the damn same, you think you're such hot sh!t because you taught something how to do a simple trick. You're a disgrace to real trainers, you have no real skill, you're all wastes of space and Pokémon."

"Alright, Alright" Winona said hushing the crowd which murmured, "So you should have no problem defeating me right? Right here, right now."

"You're kidding right?" Iian asked with a snicker, "I would crush you. But sorry, I don't have time for small fish like you, I kind of need to go earn some money, unlike pompous privileged d!ck turds like you, some people need to earn money."

"Alright, then look no further, I'll give you 24000 poke." Winona replied, the words sounding like money in the bank to Iians ears.

"This match between Challenger Iian and Winona is now under way!" The large black suited man called out to the crowd of bystanders, "This match will be decided between three Pokémon from both trainers, begin!"

"Alright, let's get this over with." Iian called out cracking his knuckles, "Gal, get in there bud."

As Iian said this, his Pokémon comrade walked forth. The white toeless legs slowly moved forward, the gown-like covering of the bi-pedal creature flowing slightly in the wind. It had green hair curling down from the sides of its head. On the side of its pale white face spikes protruded. Its slender green arms led to slender green fingers, In the center of its chest was a large red fin-like horn.

"Ga-rd" The creature said throwing its arms out, ready to battle

"And you complain about coordinators" Winona said throwing her hand back with a pokeball grasped in it, "What's your pretty fairy princess going to do?"

As Winona said this, the pokeball in her hand suddenly began floating. Before her shocked face could make any gesture, the pokeball shot forth to the makeshift battlefield and opened up.

"She can fight." Iian said in a cold tone as Gardevoir lowered her raised hand that had lifted the pokeball

"Trop!" The large creature roared as it formed from the pokeball. It was a muscular creature, reaching around seven feet at the tip of its head. It was a quadruped with a brown scaly body wrapped in green leaves. It had a long neck, with an odd fruit growing from its chin. Oddest of all were the enormous leaf-like wings flapping behind its back.

"Oh, I'm so scared." Iian said sarcastically raising his hands, "Gardevoir can take this thing easy as cake."

"Guess we'll see about that." Winona said with a smile as she watched Gardevoir collect itself, slowly bringing its hands together in the center of its chest, just before its horn.

"Gar-de-voir" Gardevoir spoke in a reverberating tone as it slowly opened its determined eyes, looking at its large opponent, not an ounce of fear within it.

"Alright Tropius!" Winona yelled

"Gardevoir!" Iian yelled in response

"Let's go!" Both trainers yelled in unison, their Pokémon catching eyes, the energy nearly palpable in the air.

**Elsewhere**

"…Where Coordinators from all around the world have already begun heading for." The newscaster spoke in a plain voice from the television, "With the competition so close, I'm sure the Ice is going to be heated up!"

"Jeesh, he didn't really have much to begin with." The woman sitting at the café table muttered to herself as she threw a half sewn glove and a wallet onto the table, "Note to self, check the suckers before you mug them."

"Pur-loi" The small cat beside the woman replied as it picked at the tables edge with its claws.

"I could have sworn that was the guy from the Unova League" The woman grumbled as she slowly began stirring her cup of coffee, "Maybe I was just wrong, I mean, how could one go from League level trainer to loser in such a short amount of time?"

"Purr-Purr" The creature shrugged as it continued to sharpen its claws

"Ugh, well, maybe we'll run into someone else worthwhile" The woman sighed before taking a small sip, "I wonder what happened to him though…"

**Back at Fortree**

The enormous creature smashed into the sturdy wooden floor. Before anyone could even react, it swung forth its long neck and took Gardevoir to the ground. The Pokémon took a moment to groan, and in that moment Tropius hoisted itself up, standing above the psychic type.

"Now tropius! Solar beam" Winona yelled, Iian immediately clenching his teeth as his mind raced, watching the energy of the sunny day waste no time in culminating into a mighty beam.

"…Why do these things happen to me?" Iian thought to himself as Gardevoir instinctively threw forth her glowing purple hands, trying to push Tropius back, "What the hell did I do to deserve all of…this…"

As Iian thought this, Tropius was thrown back, the beam it unleashed shooting forth, striking Gardevoir hard in the shoulder and creating a smoldering crater in the thick wooden stage. Gardevoir instinctively grabbed its shoulder in pain, dropping Tropius, which used its enormous wings to begin to fly with surprising agility.

"Honestly. I work hard at trainer, unlike some hobnockers, and yet this cr p always happens to me" Iian continued in thought clenching his fist, his half fist agitating him further, "I bloody try so hard, while others get to just walk on by with the easy life!"

"Aerial Ace!" Winona called out as Gardevoir rose to its feet

"Just do something!" Iian yelled out frustrated, the wind blowing through the large tear in his jeans

Tropius flapped its great wings and shot into the sky as fast as it could. Gardevoir shut her eyes as she slowly spread her arms, gathering the energy she could. In an instant, Tropius shot down from the sky at a resounding speed. The air whistled by the speeding creature, every second gaining more and more speed. Gardevoir threw her hands forth before her chest, gathering a ball of sparkling energy which was thrown immediately. Tropius struck the Moon Blast head on, the impact causing an explosion of debris in the air, forming a cloud.

"Of f^cking course" Iian groaned grinding his teeth, "I have to go through all this while Raian's probably on easy street and Josue's eating chips."

Gardevoir uneasily rose to her feet holding her arm and shoulder which were both causing immense pain. Tropius rose from the dust cloud with a smug look on its face, one of the berries under its chin smoking from the impact.

"Gar…" The Pokémon groaned as its cringe turned into a look of rage, the pain fueling its fighting desire

"Alright Tropius, one more Solar Beam ought to finish this!" Winona called out happily

"Calm mind Gardevoir" Iian called out as he too tried to calm his head. The thoughts of everyone began fading away. His past was disappearing. His rivalry with Raian was over. His journey with Josue, gone. Meeting the opponent that would become a friend known as Anna…gone.

Tropius rose into the air on its wings and pulled back its head, preparing to strike. Gardevoir calmed itself, the pain fading away, the rage being dissipated. Gardevoir could feel the energy flow around her, she could feel the energy charging upwards through Tropius.

"Alright Gardevoir, We can do this" Iian said calmly as he watched Tropius begin to bring forth its mouth which had several beams of light outpouring.

"Trop!" The sauropod roared as it unleashed its beam

"Gar-de-voir!" Gardevoir yelled out at the top of her lungs as her entire body became enveloped in a purple aura, large swirling masses of which entangled her arms. From her eyes a large outpour of the purple energy came forth, rising upwards like smoke.

Tropius let forth its blast. Gardevoir used her culmination of energy on the beam in mid air. The enormous blast of solar energy made it three-fourths of the way to Gardevoir, her arm outstretched towards it, before its end became entangled in the purple energy. Gardevoir held back the blast completely, the energy dissipating after but a few seconds. Gardevoir had successfully avoided a full blast from a Solar Beam.

"Gar…" Gardevoir declared with a large huff as she lowered her hand, all the energy dissipated

"Good job Gal" Iian called out with a smile, his worries momentarily disappearing.

**A Few Years Prior**

"So, just curious, do you think Iian will ever get a girlfriend?" Josue asked brushing his mop-like hair from his face

"Huh?" Raian asked as he turned his attention from Iian kicking a trashcan, to Josue.

"I mean. I'm just wondering." Josue replied crumpling his empty bag of chips, "He's got such a temper, and he's so self-centered, do you think he'll ever get a girl?"

"Well…" Raian replied in a drawn out breath, "I don't see it now, but I'm sure he'll mature at some point. You can't stay a spoiled kid forever."

"I think that may be a few years down the line then…" Josue replied with a small chuckle as Iian pulled forth a small plank of wood and began pounding the trash bin

**Modern Day**

"Anything else?' Winona asked with a smug smirk as the large winged dragon known as Altaria gracefully landed feet before her

"Stop counting me out!" Iian yelled out

"You have one Pokémon left, and I have two at almost full strength" Winona said in a condescending tone

"The amount of times I've been in this situation…" Iian began as he returned the unconscious blue creature before him

"Yeah yeah, save it, I've heard it all before." Winona replied throwing her hand with a pop of her hip

"…bloody f^cking hell I do not want to lose to this b!tch" Iian murmured to himself as he pulled forth his last Pokémon, "Come on out Vibrava!"

**Several Several Years Prior**

"…So I said I'd talk to you, so that's what I'm going to do." The tanned woman said brushing the long hair from her face, the bushy hair falling down her back to nearly the top of her legs, dangling over her poncho, "Now. Why did you hit your brother?"

"…he called me a name and said I was adopted…" The small blonde haired girl replied wiping her face with her hand, "Because I have different colored hair than all of you…"

"Aww…don't worry about that." The woman replied in a soothing voice as she gently placed her hands on the girls arms, "First of all…como se dice…Your dad's family, has a lot of blonde hair in it. He got black hair because of his mother, but his father was blonde, just like you."

"So I'm not adopted?" The little girl asked

"Of course not, you're my baby" The tan woman replied giving the girl a hug, "But even if you were, it wouldn't mean a thing. Who raised you?"

"You and dad…?" The little girl replied, her eyes still watery

"Veferdafad." The woman replied in an odd accent, "People today are so caught up in trying to make things bad, that they forget the good. Everyone these days wants to make everything about themselves. They think that there's so much bad, that all that's good is their birthright. But listen mi corazón, the world isn't perfect. There's a lot of bad out there…"

As the woman said this she slowly ran her hand down the girls face, drying the remnants of tears.

"But there's also good. We just need to choose what we want to focus on. No one got to where they are by themselves, we were created dependent on another, and that isn't bad." The woman continued in her serene tone, "When we forget how much we owe to others, that is when we lose our way. Our parents, whether adopted or not, our family, our loved ones, and most especially our friends…

Our family and friends are the support we have in this world, never take them for granted…."

**Modern day**

The large insect-like creature shot backwards, the debris around it moving in ringlets as though some great ripple of energy had just been unleashed. The foe's Altaria fell to the wooden stage like a rock falling from the sky.

"See? What'd I say?" Iian asked with his smug grin as vibrava slowly buzzed its way down from the sky, "Never count us out, we've done this a hundred times over!"

"I'm not sure whether to admire your confidence or hate it." Winona called out returning her Pokémon into its pokeball.

"Oh...I'm sorry, was I supposed to care?" Iian asked in a horrendously blunt sign of disrespect towards the woman. The phrase so insulting, several members of the crowd beginning to boo the boy.

"Man, you have a huge mouth don't you?" Winona asked as she pulled forth her last pokeball, "How do you not regularly get punched?"

"Who says I don't?" Iian asked as the woman threw forth her last pokeball, the device springing open to unleash an astounding creature. There standing opposite Vibrava was a metallic coated bird-like Pokémon, its sharp talons digging into the wood, the remarkable Skarmory.

"The elegant, the one and only, Skarmory." Winona called out happily throwing her knee up as she struck a pose, "A truly spectacular creature."

"Whatever it is, we're going to beat it!" Iian yelled out, "Vibrava! Super Sonic!"

The odd creature wasted no time in reverberating its throat as it flapped its wings rapidly, creating a very unsettling humming over the field.

"Steel Ace!" Winona yelled out in response

"…oh no, not another one of THOSE people…" Iian sighed as Skarmory suddenly shot upwards in the sky in a silver blur. Vibrava looked upwards unsure, when suddenly the silver blur shot back down faster than before, and struck the bug with enormous impact. The culmination of steel wing and Aerial ace. But Skarmory wasn't done, the bird turned around quickly and struck again, and again, increasing the damage dramatically.

"We aren't done yet!" Winona called out throwing her hand forth "Fury Attack!"

"Sonic Boom!" Iian called out in response

Skarmory set off on its steel coated wings again, the wind whistling past it as it sliced through the air on its path to Vibrava. The odd Vibrava calmed itself as it prepared to strike, its target getting closer by the millisecond.

"Now!" Iian yelled out

The instant before Skarmory's wing touched Vibrava, the creature let forth an enormous burst of energy from its wings, creating a small blast of sonic energy. The blast threw Skarmory off its track and saw the creature crash into the ground taking even more damage.

"Alright, so this will be interesting after all." Winona smiled as her Skarmory corrected itself

"There's no way I'm losing this." Iian retorted

**Several Weeks Prior**

"It wasn't Raian. It wasn't Josue. It wasn't Elsa or Anna. Nor Hilary. Nor my parents…It was me. I pushed through the mud and snow, I fought through it all. When my hand was bitten in half. When that dragon attacked. All of it was me."

"Blaze?"

"Of course with you, my Pokémon are all I need. I don't know why people have such a hard time with the idea. They all act like we're just a fusion, we're a team. We aren't. Blaziken. It's always been you, me, and the rest of the Pokémon. Humans get too sentimental and make everything a bigger deal than it has to be."

"Blaz-I"

"I really can't wait to go on this journey alone, so I can finally prove that to everyone. I'm sick of them all getting so mushy over everything. We're bloody trainers damn it!"

**Modern Day**

"I am a trainer." Iian said simply as Vibrava pulled itself to its feet, its shaking body a sure sign of how beaten it was.

"Skarmory…?" Winona asked looking at the large patch of broken wooden planks

"…Skarmory doesn't appear to be moving…" The large black suited man said looking down below, the long drop a bit intimidating, "…I think it's unable to continue."

"As I said. I am a trainer, no matter how good a coordinator you are, you can't defeat a true trainer!" Iian called out returning his vibrava which looked as though it would fall at any second

"Well." Winona began as she handed her pokeball to one of the men so he could retrieve her Skarmory, "I hate to say it…honestly, it almost makes me physically sick. But yeah, you won. So here."

"What's this?" Iian asked looking at the woman's outstretched hand, in the center of which was a small pile of poke and a small shining pin

"The Feather Badge. I think you've earned it kiddo." Winona replied looking back at the hole in the wooden walkway that had acted as their battlefield

"Feather badge?" Iian asked as his head slowly connected the dots, "…Wait…You mean?!"

"Yes, I am this towns Gym Leader." Winona replied a bit unsure, "Didn't you know that?"

**Not Much later**

"Aha! Everyone back to full health, a new badge and some nice money in my pocket!" Iian called out walking forth starring at the fan of poke in his hand, "See Gal, told ya' we'd pull through! I mean could you imagine if I…"

As Iian said this, his foot snagged in a small crater on the walkway, most likely formed in his battle. The boy fell flat on his face. Instinctively he clutched the bills, but unluckily, it wasn't enough to keep his backpack from falling over his head, a loud clang being heard as half his supplies fell down fifty plus feet down.

"Gar?" Gardevoir asked looking down at her master as he staid looking down into the wooden bridge.

"…and I stubbed my toe…" Iian said remaining still, his confidence completely shattered.


	5. Chapter 5

"Everyone remembers those cheesy lines Gym Leaders always say. From the simple to the comical, they're a part of the experience. I actually had the opportunity to ask several gym leaders why they say what they do, and I was given an interesting answer: 'When you introduce yourself there's a lot more going on than you think. From those simple words, you set the tone not only for who you are, but also what to expect. If I say 'Hey pipsqueak, ready to lose', the trainer knows I'm a jerk and they want nothing more than to beat me. This ruins the battle, they aren't thinking to their fullest, they're thinking with annoyance or even rage. That's why I prefer the simple. From the simplest lines, we get the best results. It really is that basic.'"

**Dewford City Gym**

"_I'm __Brawly__! __Dewford__'s __Gym Leader__! I've been churned in the rough waves of these parts, and I've grown tough in the pitch-black cave! So you wanted to challenge me? Let me see what you're made of!"_ The eccentric voice called out from the darkness, the solitary light hanging above the battlefield providing minimal aid.

"Didn't you say that exact same sentence when I fought you yesterday?" Hillary asked looking through the darkness to see the orange of the leaders shirt

"Hey!" The leader called back out "_I can see your talent becoming a giant wave to cause a storm of astonishment among __Trainers__ one day!"_

"Yeah, you said that too…" Hillary added before a loud crinkle filled the air

"Are you eating chips?" The leader asked walking forth into the light, the illumination showing his vibrant blue hair and his rather toned physique

"Yu-huh" Josue replied throwing a chip into his mouth as he stepped forth, the light bouncing off his red vest

"…can I have some?" The leader asked rubbing his gurgling stomach

"Brawly!" Hillary called out disapprovingly placing her fist on her hips

"What? I'm hungry! I've been stuck here all day, I haven't had lunch yet…" Brawly replied

"Can we please just hurry up with the battle, we have places to go…" Hillary retorted resting her face in her palm

"Seriously, what kind of mom takes their kid on a …" Brawly began

"I'm not his mom!" Hillary yelled out stomping her foot, "I'm not even that old!"

"Alright alright, sheesh" Brawly replied holding his hands up as though to block the voice of Hillary, "Short-stack, calm your old lady down so we can battle."

"Yeah yeah" Josue replied lackadaisically as he held the thrashing Hillary back, her sentences blurring together into nonsensical blurs of insults and complaints

"Seriously though, let's get this over with, I want to catch some of the good waves before the day is out." Brawly called out scratching the back of his head as he stretched his arms and shoulders

"Yeah, I have stuff to do to. Ranger in training and all." Josue replied proudly as he let go of Hillary who stomped her feet as she crossed her arms annoyed

"Ranger in training?" Brawly said thinking, "Aren't you a bit young?"

"Never too young to kick ss." Josue replied smugly as several lights flicked on, illuminating the battlefield and the trainers completely.

The floor was of a shined hard wood and looked oddly simple. It carried the air of a dojo about it, while retaining a relaxed feel. Standing between the two trainers was a referee who looked completely unappeased by anything.

"Alright Ranger in training, here's how this works. I use three, you use three, last one with a Pokémon standing wins." Brawly called out as he unclipped a pokeball from his hip, "It seems like it will just be faster this way for both of us, so let's not waste any time."

"This battle between Josue the challenger and the Gym leader Brawly is now underway!" The referee yelled out, shocking Josue that the referee knew his name, "Begin!"

"Machop! Come on out bud!" Brawly yelled out as he threw forth the pokeball through the air

"Slakoth…we got this…" Josue said confidently as he underhanded the pokeball onto the field.

**Elsewhere**

In a typical Pokémon health center there stood quite a decent line of trainers waiting to heal their Pokémon. Included in this line was a very familiar young man known as Raian who stood in his full suit, ready for an upcoming contest.

"Ugh can you believe this line?" An oddly distinct voice broke through Raian's ear

"I know right, I've seen lines move faster at banks." Raian replied with a sigh as he turned to see who stood behind him.

It was another young trainer, around his age if not slightly older. He was quite tall and stood an inch or two taller than Raian, his mid length black hair combed down in no particular style. His chin line was strong but not overpowering and peppered with small growing unshaven hairs.

"Heh, isn't that the truth." The boy replied with a comforting smile, "I'm Drew."

"Raian." Raian replied putting forth his hand to which his newly met comrade gave a shake, "You a coordinator?"

"No, just a trainer passing through." Drew replied putting his hands in his blue jackets pockets, "I'm training my Pokémon a bit here before I head to sinnoh to try and get into the Sinnoh league."

"That's…actually pretty smart…" Raian replied a tad jealous of the idea, "First league?"

"Fourth." Drew replied with a bit of a bold smile, "And if I'm lucky, third top eight. You?"

"Jeesh, that's impressive." Raian replied, "Well…I'm really more of a coordinator, but if I'm lucky, this will be my second League appearance."

"Interesting…do tell." Drew replied putting his hand fourth in a courteous 'go on' form

"Wait…you actually want to hear my story?" Raian asked

"Don't see why not, we're stuck in this line anyway." Drew replied, "And I can't say I'm not curious as to why a man in a suit standing beside a Lucario is on his way to a contest and his second League appearance. Please, do tell."

"Well…." Raian began,

"I don't really know where to began. There really is a lot to cover and I don't really want to bore you with some stuff…

I guess I'll start at the beginning. It may sound weird, but I promise this all plays a part…My family truly began with my Grandmother Serenity and my Grandfather…Paz.

They had two children, my mother, and my uncle. Then my grandfather died. My uncle had one son, my cousin and good friend Josue. My parents had two children, me and my brother Mica.

I won't lie, I didn't really know my father, he died while I was really young. He was one of the workers building the Frontier, and there was an accident. Growing up it was pretty much just my grandmother, my mother, and me…until The car accident which claimed my mother's life.

It's just the world we live in. Death is as normal as life, and I've learnt to deal with it.

My brother went off on a journey young and made a name for himself. In fact, he's currently ranked the third best trainer in the world.

Because my brother was always gone, I spent a lot of time alone with my Pokémon. Lucario, Glaceon, and my now Empoleon. It's really why I can't bear to part with Lucario, I just wouldn't feel complete without him by my side. And it was during those years that I became a coordinator. And a pretty good one if I do say so.

It was also during those years I met my good friend Iian. He's from the Hoenn…well…this region. And after some time, me, iian, and Josue decided to leave Sinnoh to start our journey in the Unova region."

**Dewford City Gym**

Machop lazily walked forth, its arms dragging along its side as it yawned. Slakoth lazily looked at its opponent with a smile quite reflective of the number three.

"Man, just watching this is making me sleepy." Brawly called out as he blinked his eyes slowly, trying to fight of the urge to yawn

"That's what makes Slakoth such a great opponent." Josue called out, "Granted he's no Arcanine, but he packs a punch with him that really gives him an edge."

"What do Arcanine have to do with this?" Brawly asked as he pulled forth a chip from a large bag he held

"Oh, my good friend is an Arcanine." Josue replied turning to Hillary who was sitting on the floor, her head resting on her hand, fast asleep, "Right now my dad is taking care of him while I'm on this little journey."

"Ma…chaaa" Machop began interrupted by a yawn as it slowly began wobbling side to side

"Ah yes, the infamous first Pokémon." Brawly said with a nod, "Listen kid, if you're going to be a Pokémon trainer, you have to be able to ride any wave. You feel me?"

"Umm…sorta?" Josue replied confused

"Of course your first wave is great, but you can't ride it forever." Brawly replied, "In life you're going to find a lot of waves, sure it's great to treasure that first wave, but sometimes better waves, or just newer waves come along. If you want to be great, you have to be able to ride all the waves."

"I understand." Josue replied with a simple smile, "And I accept it. That's why I don't mind starting from scratch. Sometimes the best way to make a splash is to forget about the old water and focus on the new…"

**Elsewhere**

"…and we were finally in Unova." Raian carried on, Drew listening intently as he and Raian shimmied forth the few inches with the line,

"Our first wild Pokémon encounter was…eventful. It was just the typical Sandile. That's right, an unferal class Pokémon. Iian was being cocky, and long story short, ended up getting his left hand bitten clean in two. I did my best not to freak out, and I managed to slow down the bleeding, but the idiot still didn't get himself to a hospital after I begged him to. He passed out and we had to drag him to one.

After paying his bill, side note, not sure if you've been to Unova, but their nurses are kind of jerks, anyway we needed money. We had a few pickup battles and got some money before heading back out for our journey.

We found ourselves in Pinwheel forest. It was actually a pretty place, but of course something stupid had to happen. I tried climbing a rotted log, and of course it snapped under me. I skewered my stomach with a massive splinter. Luckily it had just pierced the skin and didn't do any real damage. It's also how I met and caught my first Unova Pokémon, a Petilil. After meeting this ranger named Hillary we carried on.

Our next experience was one that will always stick with me. A wild druddigon's attack.

We were in a cave for whatever reason, just spelunking and having fun when we came across…it…It was an extremely powerful, completely feral, Druddigon. It had no mercy, no compassion, no fear. It was a truly wild Pokémon. When you're a rookie who's primarily dealt with domesticated Pokémon, coming face to face with a Druddigon is not something you take lightly. Especially when that monster killed a Pokémon before your eyes… Lucario still has the scar on his paw, and I still have the nightmares.

I will say that after that, facing our first Unova gym seemed far less intimidating. I can't say I remember much, but for some reason I always associate polka dots with the gym…beats me.

Next of course was Nacrene City. I'm not exactly sure what happened…but uhh…I wasn't seeing right…by that I mean, I was having some bad hallucinations during my battle. I still don't know what caused it, but I remember it was by no means fun.

Castelia's Gym was under remodel, so it wasn't that spectacular to look at. What I do remember, is my cousin josue losing his sh!t for some reason and taking it out on Burghs Pokémon. I don't really know what got into him, but…it was only a sign of worse to come…Because next was Nimbasa…"

**Dewford City gym**

"Good job Meditite." Brawly called out as the small bipedal blue creature before him calmly sat down in a lotus position, josue returning the unconscious slakoth.

"You did great Slakoth." Josue whispered to his pokeball before clipping it back onto his belt

"You really were a League trainer, weren't you?" Brawly asked as josue unclipped a second pokeball, "But you're so young…"

"The older people seem to get, the less they seem to believe in the young." Josue replied spinning the pokeball on his finger, "Despite what you think, talent and connection with Pokémon doesn't have an age limit. I have just as much potential as you do and did. Never count someone out, never judge a book by its cover."

As Josue said this he threw forth his pokeball. The small complex device popped open and unleashed a beam which formed into an abnormal little creature. The small Pokémon known as Shroomish. What made the little beast even more unusual was that it held its eyes closed alongside a very vacant smile.

"I like your style kid." Brawly called out, "You're different than the normal trainers I see come through here. It's nice to see someone different."

"Glad to hear, now let's get into round two." Josue smiled as he threw his fist up excited, "Shroomish! Start off with a tackle!"

"Meditite! Focus Punch!" Brawly yelled in reply

Shroomish's happy little vacant face suddenly changed, its eyes opening and slanting with determination, its smile still present. Meditite leapt to its feet and gathered its energy into its fist as it leapt forth. Both Pokémon shot forth towards each other, meditite's fist steaming with the energy, Shroomish determined as it threw itself forth.

"Now Stun Spore!" Josue yelled out the moment before the Pokémon collided.

Meditite threw forth its fist into Shroomish. The odd grass type Pokémon held in a deep breath as it took the punch. As it did so, a cloud of powder suddenly poofed off of it. Meditite looked with confusion as the powder sprinkled down onto it.

**Elsewhere**

"Yeah, I used to have a crush on Elesa." Drew replied with a nod, "I wasn't exactly going out of my way to find her Playlopunny issue, but still."

"Yeah, well, iian was the guy who had it in mint condition." Raian replied, "So when I became friends with Elesa, he didn't like it…not at all...

Out of well...no where…Iian unleashed on Elesa's Pokémon. Way worse than Josue had to Burgh, Iian was brutal. When I ran up to him to see what was wrong, he slapped me. He spouted some nonsense and then challenged me to a battle. Elesa wanted to see me win, so she let us use her gym.

After a pretty difficult battle, I won. It really settled everything down though, it proved that we all are on an equal playing field. Just because I'm a coordinator, I'm not weaker than Iian, and just because Josue's young doesn't mean he's weaker than either of us.

We got through Driftveil pretty quick, but of course, Iian had to make a scene at Mistralton City. After a long...and really stupid series of events, Iian made friends with Skyla and we all got our badges. To have a little fun, Elesa and I took on Skyla and Iian in a double battle. Of course I won…never you mind how…

Next place we ended up at was some strange little deserted house. There were litwick in there, and they didn't exactly just want to play hide and seek, they were trying to kill us. But nonetheless, I caught a nicer one who didn't try to kill me. And that was good because I needed the company for what was to follow…getting stabbed by a Pawniard

Route 11 I will never forget. On what seemed like a normal day, we were all reminded just how dangerous our world is. A herd of pawniard came from nowhere and attacked, one managing to stab me in the mid-section. Thankfully nothing major was struck, just a lot of nerves putting me in intense pain and causing me to bleed…a lot…I got to a hospital where I had to stay for a bit before being released to finish up my journey…"

**Dewford City Gym**

"Come on Meditite, you can last!" Brawly called out to his huffing Meditite, its left arm seizing up along with its eye.

"It can't have much left, it took way too much damage." Josue called out watching his Shroomish regain its breath

"Meditite, regain yourself, stay calm." Brawly called out, "Collect your energy, conceal your power, don't feel the pain as pain, embrace it as part of the battle."

"Shroomish, we aren't done." Josue called out as the creature slowly absorbed nutrients from its leech seed, "Let's finish this thing. Mega drain!"

"Meditite Light Screen!" Brawly called out

Shroomish leapt into the air, taking in a large breath of air as it did. Meditite closed its eyes as it tried to gather its energy into a light screen. Before the creature could do so, Shroomish unleashed a twirling vine of green energy abruptly, shooting into Meditite hard.

Brawly watched with awe as his meditate fell to the floor, slowly followed by Shroomish landing. Shroomish happily spun around and smiled, its body full of energy, it looking quite unphased by the battle.

"Not a bad wave." Brawly nodded as he returned his Meditite, "You absolutely have some skill kid, but now let's really put it to the test. Come on out Makuhita!"

**Elsewhere**

"And that leads to the Unova League." Raian said taking a half step forward with the line

"You really have some horrendous luck don't you?" Drew asked with a bit of a concerned look, "I'm not going to combust into flames at any second am I?"

"Nah, you should be good, just don't make physical contact with me for more than twelve seconds." Raian jokingly replied,

"So...the Unova League. Whew that was an interesting ride. I'll go ahead and skip over the boring Victory Road stuff. First round was between Hillary and Josue. Josue finally had a chance to show just what he was made of, and boy…did he. It was an amazing match on just so many levels. But in the end, Hillary, that's right, that random ranger we met back in Pinwheel, won.

During their fight I had met someone in the crowd. Just...a girl...a girl named Elsa. She was a nice girl, and an orphan like me. We hit it off, even when we found out we would be fighting first round, we didn't care, we still became friends. And even after our match, the one won fairly solidly, we remained good friends. She provided some much needed new company to watch the matches with and in general spend some time with.

Little did I know, even more Ironic was that her good friend, practically her sister, Anna, was becoming friends with her first round opponent…Iian.

Iian beat her pretty harshly in the battle, but she did something I didn't think any living human being could do…she got Iian to reveal his humanity. Somehow that red headed girl got Iian to not only be nice, but be genuinely sweet to her. I don't know how she did it…but wow.

Next up was the match of the century...me against Iian…"

**Dewford City Gym**

"Wow, you made a bigger wave than I thought." Brawly said as he walked forth across the gym floor to Josue, "Your skill is top notch and one day your wave will be a surprise amongst trainers."

"Thanks…I think." Josue replied a tad confused as he met with Brawly at the center of the battlefield.

"Take this, the Knuckle badge." Brawly said with a smile as he held out the small badge, "Showing this will let you legally own Pokémon up to level thirty in Hoenn."

"Thanks, I really have to get going, I refuse to show up last at the Hoenn League." Josue replied clenching the badge in his fist, "I still have to go to the Mirage locations, so we have to hurry. Hillary!"

"Wha?! I'm Awake!" Hillary yelled out as she snapped into consciousness

"Come on, I don't want Raian to get too far ahead of us!" Josue replied as he began walking forth.

**Elsewhere**

"Woah…I can't say I expected that…" Drew said with shock, "I mean…damn...That really was a great battle…"

"Yeah, I couldn't be happier with it." Raian nodded,

"So yeah, Saibot won the whole thing, but we were still all invited to the traditional dinner and party and the like. It's where my brother gave me this Poke'nav and my father's pocket watch, I never go anywhere without them now.

So after all the partying and such, we all did what had to be done. We split up. Hillary and Josh headed for the fiore region, the little bugger on his way to be a Ranger. I went to work on my brothers Gible Reserve, honestly I spent more time with his girlfriend Kiera than him. Elsa and Anna left for the Sinnoh region. And last of all was Iian, he left for his home before heading off to Hoenn.

Before I headed out for Hoenn, I received a box from Anna, it was meant to be a present for iian, everyone kind of pitching in what they could. I thought it was a nice gesture, and I hope Iian liked it. By now Iian probably is already at the eight gym. I'm not really sure though, he stopped texting or responded to any calls.

Josue is a little behind me, he says that the Rangers have him in some training mission, he can travel Hoenn but he has to go to two weird mirage locations. He and Hillary are traveling together, to my understanding he's probably at the second gym right now.

And then there's me. I have my two teams, one for contests and one for battles. I'm on my way to a contest now, but after that I need to take on Wattson.

Heh, don't want Josue to catch up to me."


	6. Chapter 6

"Truly an electrifying battle!" The stout white haired man yelled out as the manectric before him slid across the ground on its paws

"Pretty shocking how this battle's been going…" Raian retorted as The Kirlia before him spun around before throwing its arms out to balance itself quite elegantly.

"I'm infused with a vibrant charge to keep this level of energy up!" Wattson yelled back with a wide grin

"I'm just glad that static's effect wore off of Kirlia," Raian replied nodding his head, "And I know Kirlia's ex-static"

"Let's hope my next move makes contact!" Wattson yelled back as his manectric thrust its paws into the ground ferociously

"I doubt it con-du-it" Raian replied raising a brow, quite proud of his cheesy line

"You know kid…" Wattson began "Some folks are revolted by, have resistance to, and find shocking watt is charged in our ohms for the use of electric current."

"That's quite an illuminating statement." Raian replied nodding, his kirlia placing its face into its hand as it groaned

"What can I say?" Wattson asked shrugging, "to be a Gym Leader you need a volting ambition to take charge."

"Just don't let the power corrupt you." Raian replied, Kirlia's face deep in its hands at this point, "Soon you wouldn't even be able to pay your bills, then we'll see if you're de-lighted"

"Jeesh, some of these are bad…" Wattson said with a small chuckle, "Are you just going to do this till it Hertz?"

"Watt makes you say that?" Raian asked, "I thought my jokes were quite current."

"That one was just re-volt-ing." Wattson retorted, "More like that and I might be able to charge you with assault and battery…"

"If they're so bad, wire we continuing?" Raian asked upset as he placed his hands on his hips

"Well, I'm sure there's amp-le reason." Wattson responded nodding his head upwards

"Nah, I think these have lost their spark…" Raian retorted nodding his head downwards

"Hey now, this current conversation is en-lightening!" Wattson called out stomping his foot a bit

"Would I be met with resistance if I tried to switch the topic?" Raian asked

"Okay! We're good here!" Beth yelled out as she stomped her foot down, "get back to the battle!"

"I guess…" Raian began

"It was funny twenty minutes ago! Just drop it!" Beth yelled back unamused entirely.

"Huh, guess time flies when you're having pun…" Wattson said looking down at the watch on his wrist, the second his sentence ended, Beth, Kirlia, and manectric all simultaneously dropped their heads in disbelief.

"So…" Raian began

"Alright Trainer Raian!" Wattson yelled out with a burst of energy, "You've shown quite some talent off the battlefield, and admittedly your kirlia has potential. But this isn't my Magneton, this is my pride and joy, and Manectric does not go down easy!"

"You said that exact same thing about Magneton when you sent it out." Raian retorted smugly crossing his arms, "I'll believe its strength when I see it."

"Ugh, are they just going to talk half the time before actually battling?" Beth asked as she sat down on the cold floor of the empty gym, she being one of the four people present aside from the referee.

"Marsh" The short off-blue bipedal creature replied from beside her

"Lu-car" lucario said tugging at Raian's pant leg

"Ah yes, Lucario." Raian replied looking down at his comrade, "Alright Wattson, all due respect, we really need to hurry along. We have some contests to catch and we don't have all the time to catch them."

"Oh don't worry about that! This match will be as quick as lightning!" Wattson yelled back in his hearty voice, "Manectric Quick attack!"

"Kirlia Magical Leaf!" Raian yelled in reply

As Manectric threw its paw into the ground, ready to shoot forth with all its speed, Kirlia summoned forth its energy into glowing leaf like apparitions around it. The wind practically whistled across the four legged creatures' fur as it ran forth on its legs. Kirlia did its best to keep calm as it thrust forth its arms and sent forth its attack. The two attacks were quite determined to hit their mark, Kirlia's making the first strike.

The first leaf hit manectric in the shoulder with great force, but the creature was undeterred. Wattson joyfully cheered on his comrade in the moment where all time seemed to slow. The large blue furred creature leapt through the air, another leaf slicing at its ankle this time. In an instant, the Manectric struck Kirlia with a great impact of force. For just a moment, the wave of the impact was visible as Kirlia was taken to the ground.

"Woah…" Beth said in astonishment at the strike

"Relax Eliza, I have this under control." Raian said holding his hand up towards the girl

"It's still Beth…" Beth replied flattening down the cleanse tag on her bosom

"Whatever, tomato tomato" Raian shrugged

"You're supposed to change the pronunciation the second time…" Beth retorted

"…who say's toe-ma-toe?" Raian asked repeating the word over in his head, Lucario by his side uttering the word in his vocal signature

"Well it's like Data versus data." Beth replied, "Personally I say dat-a"

"I thought it was supposed to be date-a" Raian pondered turning to Lucario who shrugged, "Either way it's not exactly a fun word to say…like…iapapa..That's a fun word, go on, say it."

"I-a-papa…hmm…" Beth spoke thinking on the word, "Huh, that is kind of fun to say….Ia-papa"

"…umm…I thought we were in the middle of a battle here…" Wattson interrupted, his Manectric standing over Kirlia who rolled its head back looking at its trainer, "Didn't you say you were in a hurry?"

"Huh, oh right." Raian replied snapping his finger, "Kirlia, Cheer squad!"

"Cheer Squad?" Beth asked as Kirlia suddenly teleported from underneath Manectric

"Yeah, it's a coordinator thing. You make a set of moves and give it a title." Raian replied as Kirlia appeared behind Manectric, suddenly it began shaking as it used Double team. Several apparitions appearing as direct copies of the shaking Pokémon all around the battlefield.

"That's a little odd." Beth replied as each Kirlia spun around in unison

"Aren't you a ballerina?" Raian asked quite suddenly as Manectric looked around at the apparitions confused

"Yeah, why?" Beth asked

"Well coordination is a lot like ballet." Raian replied as all the kirlia put their arms forth, their eyes beginning to glow purple, "It takes skill, precision, and strength to pull off a graceful product that showcases the beauty of the performer."

"Manectric use shockwave!" Wattson yelled out

"Hurry Kirlia!" Raian yelled out, "Hey Eliza, I've been meaning to ask…"

As Raian began this, kirlia unleashed a psychic blast before Manectric could unleash its shockwave. The blast tossed the creature across the ground before it leapt back to its feet confused.

"Do you have a b…?" Raian began

"Manectric use howl!" Wattson called out trying to outthink the situation.

Manectric lifted its head and let forth an enormous howl which caused everyone in the room to cover their ears as the creature raised its adrenaline levels, readying itself to fight.

"A what?" Beth asked

"A buddy for travel. A comrade. A…traveling partner." Raian rattled on trying to think of the word

"Now manectric, Thunderwave!" Wattson energetically commanded

"Umm…no…not a human one…" Beth flustered as she answered, quite taken aback by the question

"Alright Kirlia, time this right and teleport for Magical leaf!" Raian called out

As manectric unleashed a shockwave, quite literally, Kirlia looked onwards trying to time itself just right. The instant before the wave struck the field of apparitions, the real Kirlia transported a few feet forward and unleashed a wave of magical leaves. All the leaves struck their target dead on and threw Manectric back hard.

"Well, do you want one?" Raian asked as Kirlia twirled around and struck a winning pose, mirroring Raian and Lucario who also struck the winning pose.

"…I appreciate the offer…" Beth said looking at her Marshtomp, "But I think I'm doing just fine on my own….I've been having so much good luck, I just don't think I want to risk it."

"What if I'm supposed to be the next stage of your good luck, and you may risk falling into bad luck if you don't join me?" Raian asked as Kirlia walked back into position before him

"By that logic, what if my gut feeling of not going with you is the good luck, and going with you would bring bad luck?" Beth retorted in equally confusing logic

"Ah yes, but what if that gut feeling is really the good lucks way of telling you that bad luck is ahead if you aren't beside someone, and the misplaced feeling of it being bad luck is really just nervousness set forth by the good luck trying to tell you even more good luck is ahead, or even that bad luck would be ahead?" Raian asked, Lucario and Kirlia looking at him puzzled

"Well there is that, but what if in turn the feeling is actually…" Beth began

"What if the feeling is just nervousness from the pressure you put on yourself trying to put power in luck that may not be there?" Wattson asked as he returned his unconscious Pokémon

"Pfft" Both Beth and Raian blurted after a moment of silence

"That's ridiculous" Raian said making the cuckoo sign around his head

"It may be just a tad over thought Mister Wattson." Beth added with a nod

**Many Many ****Days**** Weeks Later**

"Hello? Grandma? It's me Raian.

I was just giving the usual call to check up on things, make sure the farm is going well, and making sure the Pokémon I sent you aren't running too amuck.

I know it's been a while since I last called, I've just been a bit preoccupied…as you may have noticed from the plethora of Solrock I caught…I can explain…

Let's see…where did I leave off last time…? Ah, yes, Wattson.

So I fought gym leader Wattson, ironically I guess you would say, I met with that girl again. Nothing of interest really happened aside from the traditional pun battle. I won both the puns and the gym…of course. And then I headed north to the desert ruins.

I have to say, all the walking and lack of food has whipped me into shape quite well, but jeesh is it exhausting. I went east through a mountain and then north, and I ended up in some Town, I think it was called Fallarbor. I have to admit I was a tad upset to find out their contest hall had been replaced, so I was back on the road.

I went west I think, and I ended up in some rock falls. It was fine with me because I figured it was time to evolve Gloom, and what better than a Bellosom? So I heard that Sun Stone can sometimes grow on Solrock, and I thought it was worth the risk. And yeah, you know how that turned out…thirty Solrock…but hey, I found the sunstone and evolved Gloom. Plus now you have some new Pokémon to occupy the caves of the garden!

So I headed on South, back towards Rustboro…got to say, I'm really not a fan of the Hoenn landscape, it's confusing and…just…ugh…I heard of some shortcut through Mauville and this and that, long story short I ended up on route 119…oh yeah…that route…

I spent so much time, I was there for hours on hours, days even. I wasn't going to quit. I think I may have gone just slightly insane…but I caught one…I caught a Feebas! Go ahead and mark me as one of the best! I've been wanting a milotic since I was a little boy, you remember how much I wanted one! Oh I was ecstatic, everyone in my battle party and contest party was.

I crammed it with poffins and poke block until it couldn't physically have any more. But it didn't work…I polished it, waxed it, massaged it, played it music, hugged it, gave it a top hat and a tie, but nothing was working….It was at that point I really just came to a vision…I loved my feebas for who it was. How much I went through for it made me love the little bugger, and I told feebas it was perfect the way it was.

After that little tidbit we kept onwards to our next gym…oh right...forgot to mention the gyms…I actually beat Flannery, it was admittedly more difficult than I thought, but we managed. I also beat the fifth gym leader of this region who honestly…was amazing. I actually may have flustered a bit at them, but on the bright side they were cool and super nice. In fact, I got their phone number, they thought I had potential and hoped to see me go far. That makes another gym leader I've…ahem...wooed with my awesomeness

Winona was a difficult fight, by that I mean, we barely…barely…won. Thanks of course to my lovely Feebas…who decided it was time to evolve... Oh, speaking of which, I almost forgot to update you on my team.

Well, I let Kirlia choose, and he decided that he wanted to evolve into a Gallade. I was quite happy. He has his place in both my coordination group and my battling group. My coordination group at the moment is: Lucario, Glaceon, Empoleon, Meloetta, Milotic, and Bellosom. And currently my battling group is: Gallade, Shuppet, Milotic, Magcargo, and c…Huh? Sorry about that, someone tried to tell me something…

Anyway, Winona was a coordinator, so that was fun. I can definitely see why she's a big league coordinator. And evidently she recalls fighting Iian…yeah my friend who of course made a 'big impression'. But it's actually kind of surprising, according to Winona I'm really not that far behind him. By this point I expected him to already be prepping for the League, but according to Winona, he's probably just getting to the eight gym.

After defeating Winona, I figured if we kept up good speed we should be able to get all five contest ribbons we need and beat the eight gym in time to catch up to Iian….

Speaking of which, I'm currently at three contest ribbons and I'm on my way to the fourth. Contests here in Hoenn are still kind of odd to me. It's more or less split into two parts, a performance part and a battle part.

In the performance part, you and your Pokémon go out and show off what you can do. The goal is to be flashy and make an impact. That part isn't too different than Sinnoh, but the Battle part is a tad odd. In the battle, you and your chosen Pokémon compete in a...battle. You either win by being fancy, not getting hit, and depleting your opponent's score...which to my understanding isn't even earned from the first part of the contest….or you win by knocking your opponents Pokémon out.

I understand why they do it that way here, it's just different and I'm not really a big fan. It isn't using your skill to showcase the fullness of your Pokémon. As long as you do something somewhat worthwhile in round one, all you need is brute strength to win.

I digress. I made it to Lilycove, and finally with some luck I found they're having a contest, so Fourth ribbon here I come…"

"Lu!" Lucario voiced out tugging at Raian's pant leg

"Oop, sorry, but I have to get going, love you, call back soon, byeee." Raian quickly spoke before shoving his phone in his suit pocket

"Lu-car!" Lucario called out pointing at the elegant silver strap hanging from the front of Raian's suit pants to the back

"Oh right, well for the first contest I used you, then I used Glaceon, I figured I'd give someone a bit fresher a try." Raian replied running his hand across the pokeballs on the strap, "So making their debut contest appearance will be…drum roll please…Meloetta!"

"Gal-ade?" The tall humanoid creature beside lucario asked

"Well, what she lacks in field experience I feel we've made up for in training." Raian replied brushing down the love ball on his pokeball holder, "Remember when we were up at the Gible farm we had a lot of time to work."

"Bell-o" The small cute petal covered Pokémon spoke up standing on the bench aside Raian

"Bah, you all worry too much, it will be fine, I have total faith in Meloetta." Raian replied as he looked upwards at the television screen showing the stage where a coordinator and their Glameow performed an odd spectacle combination of Ice beam and Shadow Ball.

"Lu-car" Lucario shrugged as Raian returned Bellosom and Gallade

"Phew, it'll be fine." Raian said exhaling a nervous breath, "Remember, we were just as worried during your first contest, and look how it all turned out. We practically own that framed picture wall in Hearthome's contest hall."

"Lu-car." Lucario replied calmly as he sat down on the bench, Raian soon following.

"…We're getting close Lucario...and we've been away quite a long time…" Raian said patting Lucario's soft furred head, "I'm getting really homesick, and I feel so bad leaving Grandma all on her own with the garden…I really hope she at least got some help…"

As Raian said this he felt his phone buzz. He slowly pulled it forth to see the image of two Gible holding some box containing a rather peculiar object, underneath which was the caption, 'What do you think?'

"Alright…Meloetta...are you ready?" Raian asked as he clicked the pokeballs button unleashing the small humanoid Pokémon which happily sprang forth floating in the air, making odd swirls in the air as it joyfully floated about.

"Melo!" Meloetta happily replied as it swam through the air with careless ease

"For our opening act I want you to use Diamond Shard." Raian said looking at his joyful Pokémon, "I think we can do this…"

**Not Much Later**

"…And now…A successful trainer in Sinnoh trying to extend his empire, give it up for Raian!" The announcer yelled out, Raian standing in the center of the stage looking at the dark closed curtain.

"Phew…we can do this…" Raian said exhaling a deep breath as the curtain quickly pulled open. The light was practically blinding as the sun poured onto Raian's face from the open amphitheater. The crowd all looked onwards, quiet, still, waiting for something amazing.

Through the silence, Raian threw forth his hand, grasped in it being an empty glass bottle. The crowd looked on in wonder as a melodic sound filled the air. From behind Raian came forth the wonderful creature Meloetta with its mouth open carrying on the wonderful sound.

Meloetta held one hand on her chest, her other hand outstretched towards the audience. She floated before Raian as he gently placed the bottle on her head. The moment she dropped the note she threw forth both arms in the air as she began rising like a balloon, the bottle remained still, perfectly balanced atop the creature.

"It's an odd gimmick that most would find ridiculous…" Raian thought to himself as Meloetta brought both of her hands over her heart, "But I feel it's a reminder of how the simple can be the superb…"

Meloetta's hands began sparkling as a small orb of dazzling energy grew in them, inches from the creature's chest.

"Just a stupid little trick, balancing a bottle on a Pokémon's head." Raian thought as meloetta threw forth the sphere of dazzling energy into the sky, the sphere turning into a dazzling beam, gleaming in the air, "But it takes so much precision and talent to do it while showing off other moves."

As the dazzling speckles of the beam came glittering down to the earth, cascading through the sky, a purple glow suddenly enveloped them. Meloetta slowly lowered herself, her outstretched hands enveloped with the same purple glow.

"It's that one small detail that adds wonder to the world, that makes one appreciate the talent before them." Raian carried on, somewhat lost in thought, "Sure it's a tad comical, but it's effective."

Meloetta brought her hands together, the purple speckles all shooting together into a diamond shape, sparkling in the sunlight. Meloetta quickly threw her hands out, dissipating the psychic energy, the small speckles filling the sky as they sprinkled to the ground.

"That sense of awe we get from Pokémon brings us all back to that mentality we so often forget." Raian thought as he quickly grabbed the bottle from Meloetta's head and the two bowed side by side, "That Pokémon are amazing."


End file.
